Mando Corp., South Korean auto parts maker, is expected to fare well with sales from the rapidly-growing Indian market offsetting declines in bigger Chinese and U.S. markets.

According to analyst estimates polled by FnGuide on Sunday, the company’s third quarter operating profit was estimated to reach 58.9 billion won ($52.3 million) on sales of 1.35 trillion won. The projected earnings are down 21.4 percent from a year earlier but sales slipped a fraction.

“Mando’s numbers are robust when factoring in the uncertainty surrounding the domestic auto industry,” said Yoo Ji-woong, an analyst at eBest Investment & Securities Co. “Sales in Korea and other regions appear to have rebounded by a great margin.”

India is seen as a key driver for the firm’s growth, with sales in other regions including India up 29 percent on-year to 192.3 billion won, according to the stock brokerage.

Mando has been expanding its presence in the fast-growing Indian market. It sealed a supply contract for Hyundai Motor India, the No. 2 player in the local market, and built a second research center in Bengal after Delhi to focus on developing self-driving car algorithms.

“Mando’s plant operation in Beijing, where Hyundai Motor was hardest hit, is now running at 95 percent capacity from 70 percent in the second quarter,” said Kim Joon-sung, an analyst at Meritz Securities Co. The firm’s diversified client portfolio has helped it weather the recent blow, he added.

The auto parts maker recently lowered its dependence on Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, Korea’s largest auto companies, to 54 percent from 83 percent in 2000.

The country’s two leading carmakers saw their market share in the U.S. fall to an eight-year low in the first nine months of this year. Sales in China, the world’s largest automotive market, nearly halved in the first six months amid a diplomatic row over a U.S. missile shield in South Korea.

As of 12:38 p.m., shares of Mando were up 1.49 percent at 273,000 won.

By Yoon Jin-ho

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