Suzuki Motor Corp. said Thursday its group net profit in fiscal 2020 rose 9.1 percent to 146.42 billion yen ($1.33 billion) from a year earlier, thanks to a pickup in vehicle sales in its key Japanese and Indian markets from July onward.

But Suzuki's overall sales for the year through March fell 8.9 percent to 3.18 trillion yen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Japanese firm withheld its earnings estimates for the current business year, citing uncertainty over the outlook stemming from surging infections in India.

"In India, 80 percent of our stores have been unable to operate, and we are also unable to ascertain when they can reopen," Toshihiro Suzuki, president of the company, said during an online press conference.

The global lack of semiconductors caused by the pandemic is also expected to continue affecting the automaker.

Chairman Osamu Suzuki, who is set to retire in June after leading the automaker for decades, also attended the press conference, saying he hopes the company will preserve the "art form of the minivehicle."

==Kyodo

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