NEW DELHI (AP) _ Tata Motors Ltd., India's largest automobile manufacturer, said Friday its profit in the most recent quarter rose 26 per cent from a year ago, driven by strong sales of trucks and buses.

Tata's net profit grew to 5.76 billion rupees (US$140 million) in the January-March quarter from 4.58 billion rupees in the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

Tata cars, buses and trucks are sold in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and in Asia and Australia.

The number of vehicles sold by the company rose 16 per cent to 172,355, boosting its revenue for the quarter to 82.67 billion rupees ($2.01 billion) from 68.69 billion rupees a year ago.

Unit sales of trucks and buses grew 22 per cent, while that of passenger cars and jeeps rose 14 per cent, the statement said.

The company has a joint venture with Italian carmaker Fiat to manufacture cars and engines for the Indian and overseas market. It plans to assemble and sell pickup trucks in Thailand in another joint venture with Thailand's Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Co.,

Tata Motors is part of the Tata group, one of India's leading business conglomerates with interests spanning steel, software services, hotels, chemicals, insurance and asset management, among others.

The company was set up in 1954 and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The numbers released Friday conform to Indian accounting standards. Numbers that meet U.S. accounting standards were not released.