French carmaker Renault said it has achieved record sales outside Europe in the first half of the year, outperforming its struggling French rival Peugeot Citroen despite weakness in the European market.

Renault, comprising also the low-cost Romanian brand Dacia and South Korean subsidiary Renault Samsung Motors, sold a total of 1.3 million vehicles throughout the world in the first six months of 2013. This was 1.9 per cent fewer vehicles than in the first half of 2012.

By contrast, sales by Peugeot Citroen fell by 9.76 per cent. It is struggling to restructure and denied rumours that its partner General Motors could take control and inject cash.

Renault now achieves 49.6 per cent of its sales outside Europe. In the first six months, the European market fell by 6.7 per cent and Renault's European sales fell by 7.3 per cent.-Reuters