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Regional liquor players better placed amid price hikes: Dipan Mehta

Regional liquor players better placed amid price hikes: Dipan Mehta

Economic Times11-06-2025
But I think let us just see the impact of this play out for the next couple of quarters or so.
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"One big concern with Maruti is this particular absence of a coherent, I would say, or very aggressive EV strategy and second part with Maruti is the fact that the freshness of the models is gone," says Dipan Mehta , Director, Elixir Equities.See, it is certainly going to have a temporary effect but that is more restricted to the EVs and not so much to the ICE vehicles. It was a semiconductor supply chain which was getting more and more difficult for the entire auto Oem global.So, it is going to have some temporary effect but the bigger picture here for Maruti per se and for a record we have a sizable investment from our perspective at least in our portfolios on Maruti Suzuki and we are getting increasingly cautious and concern because for one the company is well behind the curve when it comes to new electric vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra clearly has the lead as do a lot of the other Chinese companies operating in India and they are gaining market share in a significant way.Right now, it may appear to be small, but Maruti lost three percentage point market share in the last 12 months or so and that could turn out to be even more sharper as more and more EVs come into play. So, one big concern with Maruti is this particular absence of a coherent, I would say, or very aggressive EV strategy and second part with Maruti is the fact that the freshness of the models is gone.See, Maruti did very well for last two-three years because of many new models coming in, but now the lineup is not as exciting as it was looking at two-three years ago or so and there is far more competition. So, I am getting a bit cautious on Maruti. I have not thrown in the towel as yet, but within the auto space there are two companies which come to mind, usual disclosure we and our clients are invested, one is, of course, M&M which should do very well, even the tractor division should do very well because of better monsoon and last month numbers also were good and second, of course, is Eicher Motors . Both these companies if you track, the volume figures monthly, you will be quite impressed on the progress which they are making.I think Karan summarised it pretty well and basically, all I can add over here is that in our assessment of the alcobev industry, it is better to be with the regional players, the likes of Radico Khaitan or Allied Blenders . Of course, Allied Blenders is not a regional player. It is India's largest alcohol company in terms of volume. But there are other smaller players as well, Piccadily comes to mind, Som Distilleries.We have to work in this industry through these regional players. They are able to manage the regulatory environment quite well. But there is, of course, the risk that a particular state in which they have a high sales concentration, may increase the levy of taxes. But on the whole, see, eventually these things do get absorbed and there could be a dip in volumes for the next 6 to 12 months or so and effect could come on the company's corporate profitability as well.But these are great long-term secular growth stories. And if you buy them when the chips are down, when the cycle is down, then when the demand revives, these companies tend to have a super increase in their profitability as we have seen in the past. So, it is a sector we like to be overweight in. But I think let us just see the impact of this play out for the next couple of quarters or so.
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