Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported an over four-fold increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,112.5 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, riding on record sales.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 486.9 crore in the same period last fiscal. Total revenue from operations was at Rs 29,942.5 crore against Rs 20,550.9 crore in the year-ago period.

MSIL said it sold a total of 5,17,395 vehicles during the quarter, its highest ever in any quarter.

“Sales in the domestic market stood at 4,54,200 units. Exports were at 63,195 units. Shortage of electronic components impacted production by about 35,000 vehicles in this quarter,” it added.

The stock climbed 4.95 per cent to settle at Rs 9,494.10 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it rallied 5.54 per cent to its 52-week high of Rs 9,548. On the NSE, it jumped 5.59 per cent to end at Rs 9,548 apiece.

The company said the year-ago quarter was marked by an acute shortage of electronic components and consequently it could sell a total of 3,79,541 units, out of which 320,133 units were in the domestic market and 59,408 units were in the export markets.

MSIL chair man R.C. Bhargava told reporters that challenges such as Covid-19 and the shortage of electronic components which had seriously affected growth in the past were not there during the second quarter, thereby resulting in good growth.

He added that next year, the overall growth of the industry will be 8 per cent. “Small car decline came well before inflation. Around 26 per cent volume has gone down in three years. Inflation will only make it worse,” he said.

“In the festival season particularly, (it) has been excellent this year. People have, after a long time, come out of the Covid shock and gone out and shopped like they have never done in the last three years and I think that has brought up the market as a whole,” he added.

He also said the small car segment, which makes up 70 per cent of the company, will go down to about 65 per cent, which is also a substantial size.

He said there has been a contraction in the small car hatchback segment while the SUV segment logged major growth.

“Next year, there will be degrowth in the hatchback segment. The purchasing power of the hatchback segment has been affected and hence, is not growing.

“The production capacity will come down from 70 per cent to what the market needs,” Bhargava said.

Nevertheless, hatchbacks are still a large part of Maruti Suzuki’s business. He said the change in the composition of sales — decline in small cars and increase in SUVs — is due to the various price increases.