NISSAN Motor Co, Japan's third-largest car maker, said profit rose for the first time in five quarters after new models lured buyers in the United States and Europe.

Net income climbed 27 percent to 132.2 billion yen (US$1.2 billion), or 32.27 yen a share, in the three months ended December 31 from 104.5 billion yen, or 25.29, a year earlier, Nissan said yesterday. Sales rose 18 percent to 2.77 trillion yen. Both were in line with analyst estimates.

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn boosted overseas sales 28 percent in the quarter as the Qashqai and X-Trail sport-utility vehicles won customers in Russia and the Middle East. Nissan sold more fuel-efficient cars in the US, where record gasoline prices led drivers to shun large SUVs and trucks from Ford Motor Co and General Motors Corp.

"Ghosn is winning back investors' confidence," said Ichiro Takamatsu, who helps manage about US$60 million, including auto shares, as chief investment officer at Tokyo-based Alphex Investments Co. "New models are stoking the engine."

Nissan's shares rose 6.9 percent in the quarter, compared with a 10.9- percent decline for Toyota Motor Corp and a 2.9-percent drop for Honda Motor Co.

Nissan fell 0.7 percent to 1,006 yen at the close of trading on the Tokyo stock exchange yesterday, before the earnings were released.

Nissan, based in Tokyo, expects full-year net income to rise 4.2 percent to 480 billion yen, it reiterated. Sales may fall 1.6 percent to 10.3 trillion yen in the year ending March 31 because of accounting changes.

The car maker brought out nine new or revamped models in the nine months ended December, including the X-Trail, the Infiniti G37 Coupe and the GT-R sports car.

"Nissan has benefited from the success of the new products launched during the past 12 months," Ghosn, 53, said in the statement.

Honda, Japan's second-biggest auto maker, yesterday reported net income rose 38 percent in the third quarter, spurring it to raise its full-year profit forecast. Toyota, the country's largest car maker, is due to report its earnings on February 5.

Nissan's operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses, rose 16 percent to 211.9 billion yen in the third quarter, it said.

Drivers in Europe bought 148,000 Nissan vehicles, an increase of 13 percent. The auto maker sold 100,000 Qashqai SUVs in the region within nine months of its March debut. The car maker also boosted sales in Russia 60 percent last year, as the country surpassed the UK as its biggest European market.

In the US, demand for Nissan's vehicles climbed 5.1 percent to 255,000, as the company won customers in a shrinking market. Overall, Japanese auto makers won a record 36.9-percent share of the US auto market last year. GM and Ford lost customers in the country as they shut plants and fired workers.

Nissan's global third-quarter vehicle sales rose 13 percent to 898,000. Sales in Japan dropped 0.9 percent to 147,000.