July 17 (SeeNews) - French car maker Groupe Renault Romania said on Monday its worldwide sales under the Automobile Dacia brand rose 11.8% on the year in the first half on 2017, reaching record-high 332,845 units.
Out of the total number of Dacia cars sold in the first six months of 2017, 310,141 were passenger vehicles, while the remainder were commercial vehicles, Groupe Renault Romania said in a press release.
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In Europe, Dacia posted a first-half sales record with 245,453 vehicle registrations, up 9.3% on the year and equivalent to a 2.6% market share. The increase was driven by the performance of Sandero phase 2, launched in late 2016, and Duster, Renault said.
Renault Group sold a total of 1.87 million cars in the first half of 2017, up 10.4% on the year.
"Our sales volumes and market share increased for all our brands and in all regions. Our strategy of range renewal and geographical expansion continues to produce results," Renault Group executive vice president, sales and marketing, Thierry Koskas, said.
Dacia's net profit increased 2% to 456.5 million lei ($114 million/100 million euro) last year relative to 2015, as turnover rose 8%.
Worldwide sales of Renault under its Dacia brand rose 6% on the year to 584,219 units in 2016. Duster was the most popular model.
Dacia had 14,001 employees at the end of 2016, down 193 compared to end-2015.
Renault bought Romania's Automobile Dacia, an ailing state company at the time, in 1999.
Dacia topped the SeeNews ranking of the 100 biggest companies by total revenue in Southeast Europe in 2014 and 2015.
(1 euro = 4.5619 Romanian lei)
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