Brezza helps Maruti Suzuki offset slow car sales

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s top-selling car maker, posted a 48 per cent rise in quarterly profit as demand for its pricier vehicles such as the Brezza crossover offset a cooling of overall sales growth caused by India’s demonetisation move.

A shift to higher priced cars has helped Maruti to avoid the hit suffered by some rivals and counter the impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November move to declare currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 as illegal tender.

The ban sparked a severe cash crunch that has disrupted economic activity, leading to the biggest monthly fall in India’s automobile sales in 16 years in December.

Maruti said in a statement on Wednesday its net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 rose to Rs 1,745 crore from Rs 1,183 crore in the year-ago quarter. The year-ago net profit was adjusted to reflect new accounting rules adopted by India.

Analysts had expected it to post a profit of Rs 1,747 crore , according to Thomson Reuters data.