• Q1 financial performance: Revenue grew by approximately 10% and EBITDA margin stood at 10.1%, beating market estimates despite a 100-basis-point margin decline caused by rising commodity costs over the past 3 to 6 months.
• Cost mitigation strategy: The company neutralized raw material inflation through price hikes in April and July, low-cost inventory, improved business mix across defense, aftermarket, IO, and power solutions, alongside new cost-cutting initiatives that build upon historical annual savings of ₹500 to ₹600 crore.
• Fleet replacement demand: CV momentum remained strong with record Q1 volumes of 48,763 units and 13% to 14% growth in MHCVs, driven by customers replacing older BS2, BS3, and BS4 vehicles as India's average fleet age expanded to over 10 years.
• Long-term growth outlook: Management anticipates multi-year industry expansion driven by the lengthy replacement cycle, GST 2.0 tailwinds, and future fleet additions spurred by growth in infrastructure, e-commerce, and agriculture.