Maruti Suzuki's Q3 net income jumps more than 100 per cent

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has stated that the company's third-quarter income has more than doubled to Rs 5.01 billion - exceeding analysts' estimates.

The sharp spike in income is due to strong demand for the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Swift Dzire sedan. As a result, the company’s stock rose to its highest in three years in Mumbai trading, posting the biggest gain on the benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index.

Maruti Suzuki is also planning to spend 17 billion rupees to set up a new diesel-engine plant, scheduled to open in 2014. Located near New Delhi, the facility will have a capacity of 300,000 engines a year.

Maruti’s deliveries in India are set to increase as much as 6 percent in the current financial year, following an 11 percent drop in the previous 12 months, according to the carmaker’s head of sales Mayank Pareek.

In December, Maruti sales rose 5.9 percent, fueled by demand for its Ertiga minivan, which was introduced in April. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers lowered its full-year domestic car sales forecast on January 9 to as little as no growth. This was the third cut in six months after local deliveries in December fell 13 percent to 141,083 cars, the second consecutive monthly decline.