The Renault group reported on Wednesday a 5.9% drop in worldwide sales in 2022 due to chip shortages, its fourth consecutive year of declining volumes, but also a record order book that gives grounds for optimism for 2023.

Last year, the French automaker sold 2,051,174 cars and vans worldwide. The previous day, it had reported sales of its main brand, Renault, down 9.4%, but the performance of its low-cost brand Dacia (+6.8%) mitigated the decline in sales for the year.

The group's order backlog in Europe remains at a record level of 3.5 months' sales at December 31, 2022, Renault added in a press release.

The previous day, Renault's Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Cambolive had expressed optimism that sales growth would return this year, provided it was profitable.

Shaken by a downturn in several of its markets, followed by the loss of important outlets such as Russia, Renault has turned its back on sales ambitions that had resulted in an all-time record of 3.9 million vehicles in 2018.

To turn around its financial situation, the group has refocused on its most profitable markets and models. "Renault Group is pursuing its commercial strategy focused on value creation," it reiterated in its press release on Wednesday.

The automaker intends to achieve this through the electrification of its models, the strengthening of its sales to private customers and by expanding its offering in the compact-size segment, which is larger than the small sedans in which it is a long-standing specialist but where margins are lower. (Gilles Guillaume reports, edited by Kate Entringer)