After a tumultuous few years, Peugeot Citroen (PSA) appears to be turning the corner.
On Wednesday the group reported a turnaround in sales last year, following three years of decline. The upturn was spurred by runaway growth in China, now the carmaker's leading market ahead of France.
Europe's second-biggest carmaker sold 734 000 vehicles in China, up 31.9 percent on 2013, taking its share of the Chinese car market to 4.4 percent. The group's global sales grew at a more stately pace of 4.3 percent, reaching 2.9 million vehicles.
Peugeot Citroen's inroads in China came in a year which saw China's Dongfeng Motor and the French state acquire stakes in the troubled carmaker as part of a 3-billion-euro (R40 billion) bailout package. Peugeot also opened 100 new dealerships in China in 2014.
France remains the group's second-biggest market, accounting for 637 682 vehicles sold last year. Sales in Europe as a whole, where the car market is rebounding from years of crisis, grew 8.1 percent to nearly 1.8 million vehicles.
In other parts of the world, such as Russia, which has been hit by Western sanctions and plummeting oil prices, and Brazil, which is battling low growth, conditions were more “difficult”, the group said.
Peugeot Citroen is on a drive to restore profitability by slashing costs and excess manufacturing capacity while up-scaling its brands.
Net losses in 2013 came in at 2.32 billion euros, down from 5.01 billion euros the previous year. Full-year figures for 2014 have yet to be released.
AFP