Maruti Suzuki second-quarter profit rises 3 percent, beats estimates

(Reuters) - Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's top-selling car maker, posted more than a 3 percent rise in its quarterly profit, beating analysts' estimates.

The company, majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, reported a profit of 24.84 billion rupees ($381.86 million) for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, versus 24.02 billion rupees a year ago. (http://bit.ly/2xtLHZZ)

Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 22.29 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Total vehicle sales for the quarter increased about 18 percent to 492,118 units.

($1 = 65.0500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting By Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)