Nissan Motor Co. reported a 4.5 percent increase in net profit for the April-June quarter on Thursday, crediting surging sales of new car models launched last year.
Japan's No. 2 automaker posted a net profit of 123.2 billion yen, a strong increase over 117.89 billion yen a year earlier.
Group operating profit for the company, which is staging a comeback under a five-year hookup with Renault SA, increased 5.8 percent to 186.32 billion yen from 176.06 billion yen.
Group sales totaled 1.9 trillion yen, up 15 percent from 1.7 trillion yen in the same period a year earlier, lifted by firmer demand for its cars in Japan as well as stronger sales in North America and Europe. Worldwide, Nissan sold 769,000 vehicles in the first quarter of the fiscal year, an increase of 9.9 percent from last year, building on new products launched in the second half of fiscal 2003.