Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Friday its first-quarter net loss sharply narrowed from a year earlier on strong sales in the domestic market.

Ssangyong’s net loss narrowed to 9.7 billion won ($ 8.7 million) in the January-March period, from 31.5 billion won a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a regulatory filing.

The carmaker said operating loss also narrowed to 17.3 billion won, from 30 billion won a year earlier. Sales rose 16.7 percent to 751 billion won.

Ssangyong said it sold 13,293 units in South Korea for the three months ending March 31, up 37 percent from a year earlier.

Its overseas sales rose 7.4 percent to 17,972 vehicles. Mahindra, which acquired Ssangyong’s majority stake in 2011, said earlier this year that it will invest 80 billion won in Ssangyong by participating in a rights offering in an effort to develop new models. (Yonhap News)