International Companies
Renault reports Q1 growth ahead of expectations
By Josh White
Date: Thursday 23 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - Renault reported first-quarter revenue growth that beat market expectations on Thursday, as rising sales to partners and strong momentum in electric vehicles helped offset lower group volumes and disruption at its Dacia brand caused by bad weather and logistics issues.
The French carmaker said first-quarter revenue rose 7.3% year on year to €12.53bn, ahead of analyst forecasts, while automotive revenue increased 6.5% to €10.8bn.
Growth was driven in large part by a sharp rise in business with partners, including production of the Nissan Micra and vehicle distribution for Geely in Brazil.
Finance chief Duncan Minto said the performance was "again a demonstration of the competitiveness of our offer, because there are partners who source from us to profit from the strong competitiveness of our cars.
"And we manage to do it with a differentiated design, so there is no cannibalisation between vehicles."
Group sales volumes fell 3.3% in the quarter, however, as severe weather and logistics problems hit Dacia particularly hard.
The closure of the Strait of Gibraltar to maritime shipping early in the year disrupted parts supplies to Renault's Morocco plant and delayed shipments of finished vehicles, while flooding at the site also hurt production.
Dacia sales dropped 16.3% during the period, while Renault-brand sales rose 2.2%.
The company said Dacia began to recover in March and should benefit from a strong order book.
Renault also highlighted improving demand for electric vehicles, with EV sales for the Renault brand rising more than 40% so far this year, helped by the launch of the Renault 5 and Renault 4.
Electric models accounted for 23.9% of Renault-brand sales, up 7.2 percentage points.
Ivan Segal, the group's global sales and operations director, said higher fuel prices were supporting demand for electrified models.
The results came as chief executive Francois Provost pushed a broader overhaul aimed at lifting Renault-brand sales above two million vehicles a year by 2030 and increasing the share sold outside Europe.
The carmaker pointed to strong growth in markets such as India, where sales rose 47.6% ahead of the launch of the new Renault Duster, while also stepping up efforts to streamline operations as competition intensified from lower-cost Chinese rivals.
Renault reaffirmed its 2026 targets, including an operating margin of about 5.5% and automotive free cash flow of around €1bn, but warned it would take further steps to limit the impact of the Middle East conflict on raw materials, energy and logistics costs.
"We control what we can and we have options," Minto said, declining to detail the measures.
The company earlier this month said it would cut up to 20% of its engineering workforce over the next two years as part of a wider efficiency drive.
At 1251 CEST (1151 BST), shares in Renault were up 1.37% in Paris at €31.72.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Article Archive
Free Membership To Digital Look
Discover the full range of Investor's Tools and Services from Digital Look - voted 'Best Research & Information Provider 2007' by Investors Chronicle.
En HeaderFooterDLYou are here: research