Renault’s global sales boss, Ivan Segal, has welcomed the UK government’s introduction of grants for electric car buyers, saying that such support will be needed to stimulate demand “for some years” to come.
The French manufacturer has just released its sales results for the first half of 2025, with notable gains in sales of both its EV and hybrid line-ups. That has helped the firm to sell 394,278 passenger vehicles in the European region, a rise of 8.4% despite the overall market dipping by 1%.
Renault’s sales included 63,800 EVs, accounting for 16% of its sales an a 57% increase on the first half of 2024. The Renault 5 accounted for the bulk of those sales, in part because of a relative lack of competition for small B-segment EVs.
Asked if Renault could sustain that EV sales growth, Segal said that the success of the 5 – and strong early demand for the closely related Renault 4 – showed that “there is an opportunity in terms of demand for the BEV segment”.
He added: “People want those kind of cars, and they go for an R5 whatever the kind of energy it uses, because the car is very desirable.”
However, Segal acknowledged that the growth of the European EV market was “not at the speed expected” to ensure car firms such as Renault could hit emissions reduction targets set by the EU and national governments.
He added: “Is the speed [of EV growth] enough for the future? This is a big topic. We’ve seen in past years, where we are more in the mood in Europe to see incentive schemes by national governments decreasing or stopping, rather than coming back.
“We are happy to see what has been announced in the UK with the EV grant. We are still in discussion with the government to understand the details today.
"Globally we believe, as an OEM, that we still need for some years the incentive to boost demand, to make sure that for customers the total cost of ownership of an EV has some added value over a combustion car, and incentives can be very helpful for that.”
Renault is due to reveal the production version of the smaller Twingo later this year.
Hybrids fuel Renault’s European success
Renault sold 162,300 hybrids in Europe in the first half of this year, accounting for 41% of its passenger car sales in the region and an 11% rise on the same period last year. That told included 59,000 examples of the Symbioz.
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