Renault 2024 sales up 1.3%, helped by hybrids

PARIS (Reuters) – French automaker Renault said on Thursday that sales in 2018 It grew by 1.3% in 2024, thanks to a strong fourth quarter of new launches that helped offset weak demand earlier in the year.

Sales growth, however, has slowed sharply from a projected 9 percent increase in 2023 as the global auto sector faces a challenging year with consumer appetite for new vehicles in China and excess production flooding the market.

Top European carmaker Volkswagen said on Tuesday that its sales fell 2.3% last year as it tries to cut costs and fight a price war in China, its biggest market.

Renault, which sells mainly in Europe, said it sold 2.26 million vehicles; It was made up of hybrid and electric vehicles that helped lift sales by 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

Overall, 9% of the group’s European sales were electric vehicles, rising to 12% in the fourth quarter.

Electric vehicles for the Renault brand, which account for more than two-thirds of group sales, accounted for 16% of European volumes in the fourth quarter, Renault brand CEO Fabrice Camboliev told reporters.

20% of Renault’s sales this year must be electric vehicles to comply with tough new European carbon emissions targets.

The company reports 2024 financial results on February 20.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Writing by Dominic Patton; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)