Shares in Renault slumped on Wednesday, a day after it lowered its annual financial outlook in the face of a likely decline of the retail automotive market.
Shares in the French automaker were down 17.3 per cent around 0730 GMT at 34.12 euros. Since the start of the year the company鈥檚 shares have fallen 25 per cent.
Citing 鈥榠ncreasing commercial pressure from its competitors and the anticipation of the continuation of the retail market decline鈥�, the company lowered its operating margin target to around 6.5 per cent of turnover, down from a minimum 7.0 per cent given previously.
The margin is a measure of operating profit, and despite the squeeze Renault said it aims to prioritize value creation over volume.
The company announced its sales revenue rose 2.5 per cent in the first half of the year to 27.6 billion euros ($32.1 billion), with the operating margin of 6.0 per cent.
It said June sales volumes were lower than expected and the commercial van segment was also soft.
The company also Tuesday named its chief financial officer, Duncan Minto its interim CEO as it works to find a successor to Luca de Meo, who stepped down to run luxury group Kering.
Renault reports full first half results on July 31.