Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's top-selling car maker, posted a 15.8 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by increase in the sales of premium models such as the Brezza SUV and Baleno hatchback.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose to Rs 1,709 crore ($266.64 million) from Rs 1,476 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement.

The profit figure however slightly missed analysts' average estimate. Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of Rs 1,756 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Total income from operations of Maruti, which is majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, rose 20.4 per cent to Rs 20,751 crore. The company sold 414,439 passenger vehicles during the quarter, up about 15 percent from the year-ago period.