Hyundai Motor Co., the world’s fifth-largest carmaker by sales, posted a 21 percent jump in net profit in the third quarter Thursday.

The figure was in line with the market consensus on continued popularity of its sedans and SUVs in China, the U.S. and Europe.

The company reported 1.92 trillion won ($1.7 billion) of net income for the June-September period, up from 1.59 trillion won a year earlier.

The result is expected to cap the company’s most profitable year and beat sales of its rival firm Toyota Motor Co.

“Hyundai’s affordable pricing and the won’s relative weakness in the past few months helped the company to retain market share amid growing global uncertainty. Hyundai is headed for its most profitable year,” Seo Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities said.

The company said its Sonata sedans and Tucson SUVs have been particularly popular in China and India. Its stretched manufacturing capacity from the new plant in Russia and Czech is expected to help boost sales as demand grows steadily.

“We expect no problem in meeting our goal of selling over 4 million vehicles globally, as our sedans and compact cars are increasingly popular in China and India respectively,” Lee Yon-hee, the company’s vice president said.

By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)