MUMBAI, India (AP) — India's Tata Motors reported a 71% jump in quarterly profit Friday due to a strong performance at its Jaguar Land Rover unit, even as the automaker's domestic business continued to suffer in a weak economy.
The company had net profit of 35 billion rupees ($560 million) for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, beating expectations.
The result was entirely due to Jaguar Land Rover, where profit climbed 66% to 507 million pounds ($815 million). Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. Tata said there was strong demand for JLR's new Range Rover and other models. That offset losses from slumping Indian sales of Tata's own branded cars.
The company's Indian vehicle sales declined 33% from the same quarter last year and the domestic business reported a loss of 8 billion rupees ($128 billion). A slowing economy and high interest rates on loans have decimated India's domestic car sales.
