French automaker Renault said Thursday that fast increasing sales of electric cars boosted its first quarter revenue which rose 7.3 percent to hit 12.5 billion euros ($14.6 billion).French automaker Renault said Thursday that fast increasing sales of electric cars boosted its first quarter revenue which rose 7.3 percent to hit 12.5 billion euros ($14.6 billion).
The group said it saw major sales boosts in key markets, including India (+47 per cent), Morocco (+20 per cent), Turkey (+13 per cent) and Colombia (+10 per cent).
Global sales of completely electric vehicles rose 21 percent against the same period last year, and now account for 17 percent of sales, the group said.
While overall registered sales fell 3.3 percent to 546,183 vehicles, the higher price paid for electric vehicles boosted the revenue figure.
In Europe, electric and hybrid electric-petrol cars rose 12 percent in the quarter and now account for 52 percent of Renault’s overall sales, it said.
The turnover figure was also strengthened by Renault’s move to take full control of a plant in India that it had previously shared with its partner Nissan. By putting all of the plant’s production in its accounts, Renault added some 200 million euros to its quarterly turnover.
Renault finance director Duncan Minto told journalists no immediate “impact” on demand had been felt from the Middle East war but the group was still taking savings measures.
He did not give details but Renault announced this month that it would reduce the number of engineer jobs around the world by 15-20 percent over the next two years.
Shares in Renault jumped 2.6 percent in a French market up 0.4 percent overall.
