Renault Group’s global sales fell 1.9% in the first half of the year to 1.3m units, largely as the result of a 7.3% fall in sales in Europe.
That fall was partly offset by growth of 4.3% to a record 646,724 units in international sales.
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The company predicted growth in the world’s automotive market would slow this year to 2%, from a previous forecast of 3%, while Europe would contract by 5% with France shrinking by 8% instead of the earlier forecast 5%.
Dacia was once again the star of the group with sales rising 16.5% to 211,438 units, or 16.2% of group sales.
Renault brand sales were down 4.6%, with the 4.3% rise outside Europe failing to offset the 12.5% fall in Europe. With 1,062,295 units, the Renault brand accounted for 81.5% of group sales.
In South Korea, Renault Samsung Motors volume fell 14.2% in a stable market.
Sales and marketing chief Jérôme Stoll, said: “The Renault group has once again demonstrated the relevance of its international development strategy which allows it to absorb a large part of the fall in the European market. We are posting robust successes internationally, as seen in Russia and India.”
Renault noted that Russia, where its has a 7.8% market share, has now overtaken Brazil to become its second biggest market while the company is now the best-selling European brand in India, thanks to the success of the locally-built Duster.
In Russia, where industry sales were down 5.7%, Renault volume rose 9.5% to 114,189 for a 7.8% market share. In India Renault took a 2.5% share (up from 0.3% in H1 2012) with sales of 39,490 vehicles.
