Renault is sticking to its target of selling more than 2m cars a year in Europe by 2009, and 3.3m worldwide.
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According to dpa-AFX, Renault’s head of production, Patrick Pelata, said that, although Renault sales fell to 1.66m cars last year (excluding Romania and Bulgaria), the company is hoping to get back to selling around 2m units a year, as it did between 1990 and 2001.
So far this year, sales are down around 7% year on year to 1.1m cars in the first eight months. New models such as the redesigned Laguna, due to go on sale over the next few months, should regenerate sales. Increasing demand for the Dacia/Renault Logan should also help, said Pelata.
Pelata told the news agency that Renault was having problems getting production started at the new Logan plant in Iran.
He added that strong worldwide growth would be needed to reach the target of 3.3m sales worldwide.
Separately Renault’s sales and marketing head, Patrick Blain, told Automobilwoche that the automaker would start selling sports cars under the Alpine badge again – the first model is scheduled to arrive in 2010.
Any such Alpine models are not part of the 26-new-models offensive that Renault and Dacia are planning to launch by the end of 2009.
Blain said the first Alpine model would not be a sporty Laguna, like the coupe study shown at the Frankfurt Show. “We are working on a much more radical sports car,” he said.
