French carmaker Renault on Thursday posted a worse-than-expected 2.712 billion euro net loss for the first half on plunging sales but revised its full-year forecast for the world automotive market upwards.
Renault confirmed it aims at a positive free cash flow and an increase in market share for the full year.
The group, hit like fellow carmakers late last year by a widespread industry sales crisis, was forced in February to abandon its earlier 2009 profitability targets and focus instead on cutting costly stocks of unsold vehicles.
Renault now expects the world automotive market to fall 12 percent compared with 2008 to more than 57 million units.
It had previously predicted a drop of 15 percent but said it had seen positive effects from tax incentives in the first half. In Europe, it expects the car market to improve in the second half and finish the year with an 8 percent decline, after a 13.7 percent fall in the first six months.
Renault itself is showing "resilience", Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said in a statement, adding the group was preparing for the post-crisis period with zero emission vehicles, expansion of its entry-level range and a move to expand synergies with alliance partner Nissan Motor Co.
The group said that despite the effects of scrapping incentive schemes in major European markets, Europe contributed to half the total revenue decline. Group revenues fell 23.7 percent to 15.991 billion euros in the period.
"The product mix has been been pulled downwards," Renault said. Smaller, cheaper models are eligible for government scrapping schemes, under which drivers are paid cash bonuses to trade in old cars for newer, greener ones.
In Europe, several currencies also adversely affected revenues, Renault said in a statement.
Renault posted a group operating loss of 946 million euros for the first half, against an operating income of 845 million euros in the same period a year earlier.
