Renault Group has unveiled first-quarter revenues fractionally down 0.1% to EUR8.26bn (US$11.43bn), although it recorded a 5.1% increase in registrations.
The registration rise to 636,239 units was due to an improvement in European economic conditions and what Renault refers to as “the success of new models.”
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In a global automotive market growing 4.7%, Renault group registrations rose 5.1% to 636,239 units.
In Europe, Group sales grew 17.7% in a market that expanded 8.2%. Clio, Captur and Sandero drove market share gains.
Outside Europe, the downward trend in its main international markets led Group registrations down 7.9%; they now account for 43% of total sales, compared with 49% in first-quarter 2013.
Duster remains the Group’s best-selling vehicle globally, with 97,280 units sold.
In Europe in a market that grew 8.2%, driven primarily by Southern Europe, the Group increased registrations 17.7%, bringing its market share in passenger cars (PC) and light commercial vehicles (LCV) to 9.7%, an increase of 0.8 points.
The strongest increases came from France (+ 8.2%), Italy (+ 37.4%), Spain (+ 21.4%) and the UK (+ 100.1%).
The success of the new Renault products and the Dacia brand, which posted the strongest registration increase in the market, explain the strong performance in the UK.
The Renault brand ranked number three 3 in the PC and LCV market with a share of 7.2%, up 0.1 points. It remains leader on the LCV market, with market share of 13.7%.
Dacia was the fastest growing brand in the market. Sales increased 46.1% giving a market share of 2.5% (+ 0.6 points), driven primarily by strong momentum in the UK.
The Group’s three best-sellers in Europe were Clio with nearly 76,000 vehicles, Captur with 41,500 units and Sandero with 39,000 models.
With the success of these vehicles, the Group says it maintained its number one position in the B segment in Europe.
