Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday reported a rise in third-quarter profit, as more consumers bought vehicles during the festive season and customers returned to showrooms after lockdowns eased across the country.
Indians typically are seen making big-ticket purchases during the festive season, which was in mid-November.
Maruti, which sells every second car in India, saw demand for small cars as buyers turned to personal mobility in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the third quarter, domestic unit sales of India's top carmaker rose 13.4 per cent year-on-year to 495,897 vehicles.
Passenger vehicle sales in December surged 13.6 per cent from a year earlier, India's trade body said earlier this month but warned of rising costs.
The pandemic worsened problems for Indian carmakers, who were already witnessing tepid demand and an inventory pile-up. The companies are now also facing a global shortage of microprocessor chips and shipping containers.
Earlier this month, Maruti joined several carmakers in India to raise prices of some car models to tackle the impact of rising raw material costs.
Net profit for the three months ended December 31 came in at Rs 1,941 crore rupees ($265.46 million) for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared with a profit of Rs 1,565 crore last year.
Analysts on average had expected Maruti to post a profit of Rs 1,879 crore rupees, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue from operations rose 13.3 per cent to Rs 23,458 crore rupees.
Published 28 January 2021, 10:18 IST