Profitability variations and disparity in automobile sector: A case of leading Indian Automobile companies

The Indian automobile sector is the biggest market and emerging by displacing some advanced countries. The Indian automobile sector contributes positively and progressively to the growth and development of the Indian economy. The study is based on secondary data and considers the financial statements available on concerned websites. Ratio analysis, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance), CV (Coefficient of Variation), and rank correlation applied to analyze the data extracted from the financial statements of leading Indian automobile companies. The study reveals that there is a significant difference in the profitability of the Leading Indian automobile companies for the period 2011 to 2020. There is a moderate positive relational relationship between PBDIT(Profit Before Depreciation, Interest, and Tax) ratio and PBIT(Profit Before Interest and Tax) ratio and their variability while PBT ( Profit Before Tax) ratio and PAT ( Profit After Tax) ratio and their variability positively and highly correlated. This reveals that manufacturing expenses and depreciation do not affect profitability while profitability governs the interest and taxes of the leading Indian automobile companies. The study suggests a possible reduction in all direct and indirect costs, optimum cost of capital, or low cost of capital structure can be considered to avoid excessive burden against the profits of the negative performing leading Indian automobile sector companies.