Renault suffers sharp sales fall

Renault says that car sales in the first half of 2009 fell 16.5% as the downturn hit demand for vehicles.

It said it sold 1.106 million cars and light trucks in the first six months of the year, down from 1.326 million in the same period a year earlier.

Renault is getting a 3bn euro (£2.6bn;$4.24bn) rescue loan from the French government but it is conditional on not making forced redundancies.

Scrappage schemes have boosted sales of cars in some European countries.

Sales have picked up in Germany and the UK as governments have offered incentives to encourage consumers to junk their old cars and buy newer models.

Renault said its sales of passenger car sales fell 13.7%, a slower rate than the global market.

It added its share of the global vehicle market remained at 3.7%.

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