Tata profits hit by drop in sales

Tata Motors has said its annual net profits have more than halved after the global economic slowdown hit demand for its cars and trucks.
India’s largest vehicle maker made 10.1bn rupees ($214m; £133m) in the year to the end of March, down from 20.29bn rupees a year earlier.
The company described the October to December quarter as „really, really bad“, but said sales were improving.
Tata launched the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, last month.
The basic model of the Nano costs just 100,000 rupees. Sales of the car have been „fairly satisfying“, the company said.
For the full year, however, overall revenue fell by more than 10% to 256.6bn rupees.
„Volume reduction, high input costs and commodity prices all impacted earnings,“ said Tata’s chief financial officer C. Ramakrishnan.
Last year, Tata bought UK-based car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from US carmaker Ford.