Indian automaker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd reported a 14.5% rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, helped by strong demand for its passenger cars.

Mahindra, which is known for XUV, Thar and Scorpio cars, said profit rose to 15.28 billion rupees ($185.2 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from 13.35 billion a year earlier.

($1 = 82.5050 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)