Maruti Suzuki, controlled by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp , said its net profit for the July-September quarter was 8.63 billion rupees ($140.37 million) compared with 6.70 billion rupees a year earlier.
Analysts expected the company to report a net income of 8.28 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net sales of the company, famous for its low-cost, entry-level compact cars, rose 17.5 percent to 119.96 billion rupees in the July-September quarter, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Maruti said its board has decided to recommend an increase in the foreign institutional investor (FII) holding limit in the company to 40 percent, broadly the level of public shareholding in the stock, subject to approvals.