Investing.com – Paris-listed shares in Renault SA (EPA:RENA) drove higher on Thursday after the French carmaker announced that its sales volumes rose by 1.3% last year thanks in part to new models bolstering demand in the fourth quarter.
In a statement, the company said group-wide sales came in at 2.26 million units, led in part by strength in Europe of the Sandero subcompact car Renault produces jointly with subsidiary Dacia.
At Renault’s namesake brand, which makes up around two-thirds of group sales, a push to offer lower-priced options to inflation-hit car buyers via its Scenic E-Tech electric car and Symbioz and Rafale hybrid sport-utility vehicles contributed to a 1.8% year-on-year increase in volumes of 1.58 million units.
Electric vehicles accounted for 16% of sales in Europe in the fourth quarter, Renault brand CEO Fabrice Cambolive said, according to Reuters.
The rising share of electric and hybrid vehicles helped bring up Renault’s sales by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. This comes as carmakers in Europe are racing to roll out discounts on EVs to entice customers ahead of the imposition of stringent new European Union emissions rules. Nearly a fifth of Renault’s sales this year will need to electric cars in order to comply with the targets, Reuters reported.
However, the annual rate of sales growth at Renault, which is due to report its full-year financial results in February, was slower than the 9% pace posted in 2023.
Carmakers in Europe have been grappling with sluggish customer demand and fierce competition from local rivals in China, the world’s largest automotive market. Earlier this week, German auto giant Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) reported a decrease in deliveries in 2024, with executives at the firm calling the operating environment last year “challenging.”
(Reuters contributed reporting.)
