* Q4 operating profit beats consensus
* Sees operating profit down 87 pct this year
* Firm sales in India support
* To continue GM projects but green strategy a worry
* Shares end up 2.5 pct before results
By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
TOKYO, May 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp escaped a loss in the final quarter thanks to growth in its main Indian market, but forecast an 87 percent drop in profit this year citing slumping global demand and a stronger yen.
Suzuki, a maker of compact cars such as the Swift hatchback, has been relatively shielded by its big presence in India where it controls about half of the car market through local unit Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
With its best-selling Alto and new models such as the A-Star and Swift DZire, Maruti's sales rose for the fourth straight month in April in contrast with trends in the United States and Japan, which have pummelled other Japanese carmakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.
Even in Japan, Suzuki is benefiting from the popularity of 660cc minivehicles -- a segment it dominates with Toyota unit Daihatsu Motor Co. That helped Suzuki and Daihatsu overtake Nissan Motor Co as the second and third-ranked brands in Japan after Toyota in the last financial year.
Suzuki booked a fourth-quarter operating profit of 10.45 billion yen ($106 million), down 68 percent from the previous year but handily beating a consensus estimate of a 2 billion yen profit in a survey of 17 analysts by Thomson Reuters.
Net profit fell 54 percent to 5.8 billion yen, while revenue declined 27 percent to 670.2 billion yen. Its global car sales fell 8.3 percent to 611,000 units in the quarter.
For the year to March 31, 2010, Suzuki expects an operating profit of 10 billion yen, far short of a consensus forecast of a 42 billion yen profit, and a net profit of 5 billion yen.
Its typically conservative forecasts are based on an assumption that the dollar and euro will average 90 yen and 115 yen, respectively, and Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki said the projections were set as a "minimum line".
Suzuki expects global car sales to fall a relatively tame 5 percent this financial year to 2.19 million vehicles.
GREEN STRATEGY
While Suzuki is riding the popularity of small cars in its main Indian and Japanese markets, it is not without its worries. Suzuki is relying on embattled General Motors Corp for the foundation of its hybrid and fuel-cell technologies, which it may need to stay in the game as fuel economy standards around the world are tightened.
"We're working on hybrids with GM, and I realise this doesn't look good," the plain-spoken Suzuki told a news conference.
"That doesn't mean we're going to switch partners just like that. It's a complicated issue, but we're going to do everything we can to come up with a viable solution," he said.
For now, Suzuki said there was no discussion about discontinuing the more than 10 joint projects it has with GM -- formerly its top shareholder -- which is up against a June 1 deadline to present a viable restructuring plan or face bankruptcy.
Another potential threat is the imminent debut of Tata Motors Ltd's much-hyped Nano in India, where the world's cheapest car received more than 200,000 paid orders during the initial booking period from April 9 to 25.
"I can't say there won't be any impact (on our sales) but I don't know what the car is going to be like so it's wait-and-see for now," Suzuki said.
"We'll have to think of a counter-measure, but I have doubts about a strategy of selling a car purely on price," he said.
Shares of Suzuki have jumped more than 60 percent in the year to date, far better than a 44 percent rise in Tokyo's transport subindex.
Before the results were announced, Suzuki shares ended up 2.5 percent at 2,025 yen. (Editing by Michael Watson)