New Delhi - India's largest automobile manufacturer Maruti Udyog Limited Wednesday announced a 39 per cent profit rise in the 2005-2006 financial year spurred by increased car sales in a booming economy.
The company's net profit rose by 39.29 per cent to 11.89 billion rupees (263.63 million dollars) in the year ending March 31, 2006, the company said in a release. India's financial year runs from April to March.
Maruti, in which Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. owns a majority share of 54.2 per cent, also announced it would be launching a new model aimed at the European market in 2008-2009.
'This model, while serving the Indian market, would be for export, mainly to Europe,' the release said adding that it was setting a target of 100,000 units a year.
Maruti, which accounts for more than half of India's domestic car sales, said it would spend 616 million dollars by March 2008 on new launches.
The company's total income in 2005-2006 surged 10 per cent to 124.81 billion rupees (2.76 billion dollars), the release said.
A February duty cut on cars had helped the company reduce prices in the small segment boosting sales, the company said. Small cars account for almost three quarters of India's total car sales.
India's economy has been growing at about 8 per cent annually for the past three years boosting car sales, but trade figures show that only eight people per 1000 own cars.
Buoyed by the positive results, Maruti shares rose by 6.5 per cent Wednesday in the Bombay Stock Exchange.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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