Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd on Friday reported a 26.5 per cent drop in quarterly net profit as the company struggled to sell cars, trucks and tractors amid a slowdown in Asia's third-largest economy.
Unit sales at the maker of popular sports utility vehicles like Scorpio and Thar dropped 21% for the quarter, with the industry facing issues of credit crunch, higher insurance costs and a shift towards ride-hailing services.
Last month, larger rival Maruti Suzuki India flagged 30.2% slide in unit sales for the September quarter.
Net profit after tax for Mahindra came in at Rs 121.3 crore ($170.36 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with Rs 164.9 crore during the same period last year, the Mumbai-based company said.
It, however, beat analysts' average estimate for a profit of Rs 115 crore, according to Refinitiv data.
India's passenger vehicle sales shrank 23.7% in September, making it the eleventh straight month of declines, and prompted an industry body to warn of more job cuts if sales did not pick up soon.
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The company, which has cut 1,500 jobs or 5% of its workforce, had warned in September that more such cuts could be on the way in the fiscal year if the slowdown persisted.
Revenue from operations fell 14.7% to Rs 110.8 crore.
