Suzuki Motor, Japan’s second- biggest small car manufacturer, increased first-quarter profit seven-times on superior sales in Japan and the remainder of Asia.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday that the Net income increased to 15.2 billion yen ($177 million) in the three months ended June 30, from 2.14 billion yen a year earlier.

Sales went up 14% to 656.3 billion yen. The auto manufacturer, based in Hamamatsu, Japan, announced bigger sales locally and in the rest of Asia, counteracting weakening in North America and Europe. Government enticement helped surge up home market sales 21% to 399 billion yen. Director and senior managing officer Toshihiro Suzuki said that in India, where its unit Maruti Suzuki India is the nation’s largest carmaker, the company’s first-quarter sales shot up 23% to 242,887 units. Maruti’s total income for the period dropped for the first time in five quarters as costlier raw material costs ate way sales profits.

As Maruti’s production ability is covering demand in India, the company is being careful on expansion, said Toshihiro Suzuki, the eldest son of Chairman Osamu Suzuki told reporters that, “Competition is intensifying in India, Suzuki in Tokyo. We have a high market share, but we can’t be complacent.”

The car manufacturer is constructing a new factory in Thailand that will start operating in March 2012 with ability to make up to 10,000 vehicles in the opening year.