BENGALURU, Jan 31 Reuters Maruti Suzuki India, the country39;s top carmaker by sales, reported a biggerthanexpected jump in thirdquarter profit on Wednesday, buoyed by strong demand for its sport utility vehicles SUVs.

The company39;s profit after tax for the three months to Dec. 31 rose 33 to 31.3 billion rupees 377 million.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 29.25 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

Indian consumers generally make bigticket purchases during the festive season, which lasted for a large part for the third quarter last year. Increased sales of more expensive SUVs, such as 39;Grand Vitara39; and 39;Brezza39;, helped boost Maruti39;s total sales volumes by 7.6 to 501,000 units, per its monthly sales data.

Sales of small cars, including 39;Alto39; and 39;Baleno39;, were, however, down throughout the year and extended into the Decemberquarter as high inflation curbed rural spending, the segment39;s largest consumer demographic.

A moderation in December small car wholesales, which includes sales to dealerships, also partly contributed to the dip in the segment.

The 39;Swift39; hatchbackmaker39;s revenue from sales rose 14.4 to 318.6 billion rupees.

1 83.0331 Indian rupees

Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema

Source Reuters