Bosch Ltd., a supplier of technology and services, on Wednesday, posted a 14% year-on-year growth in first-quarter net profit to ₹466 crore even as its revenue grew 3.8% to ₹4,317 crore.

Guru Prasad Mudlapur, Managing Director, Bosch Ltd., and President, Bosch Group in India, said the growth was driven by higher demand in the overall automotive market, mainly in the passenger car segment. Mr. Mudlapur said the financial year commenced with moderate growth in the automotive market despite the challenges of a high base from the previous year. There was also a slowdown related to elections and summer heatwaves.

Continued demand in the passenger car segment, coupled with growth in production and wholesale, resulted in growth for Bosch Ltd. this quarter, he said.

“Although retail sales have remained sluggish leading to a rise in the pipeline inventory, the overall sentiment in the automotive sector remains positive,” he stated.

Bosch said in Q1, sales in the automotive segment had increased by 4.1% compared with the year-earlier quarter. Power solutions, which contributes 72% to the overall automotive segment, grew 2.3% over the same quarter of the previous year, driven majorly by the passenger car segment.

“The optimistic growth in the Indian economy with higher disposable incomes put Bosch in a sweet spot with the continued growth in demand for the auto sector,” he said.

“’Bosch would continue to strengthen its portfolio through localisation and capitalise on the potential of alternate fuel technologies and electric vehicles to usher in a new era of mobility,” Mr. Mudlapur added.