Renault drives on to record sales in first half

PARIS: French automaker Renault said Monday it sold a record 1.9 million vehicles in the first six months on the back of booming sales in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We set a new record with sales of over 1.88 million vehicles in a six-month period.Our sales volumes and market share increased for all our brands and in all regions," said sales and marketing chief Thierry Koskas.

It notched up 10.4 percent growth over the comparable period a year earlier and far outpaced the overall market which expanded by 2.6 percent.

As a result, Renault lifted its market share by 0.3 percent to 4.1 percent.

All of the group's brands -- Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors and Lada -- were able to lift both market share and volume.

Sales were also higher in all regions, with the strongest increase of 50.5 percent seen in the Asia-Pacific region, powered by a doubling of sales in Iran.

Looking ahead to the full year, Renault said it "confirms its 2017 sales objectives with growth in sales and market share in Europe and outside Europe."

In volume terms, Renault said it is pencilling in growth of 1.5-2.5 percent globally and growth of two percent on both the European and French markets.