(Reuters) -French car maker Renault on Wednesday said its worldwide sales rose 13% in the first six months of the year, with a 24% increase in Europe.

Renault, which raised in June its 2023 outlook thanks to cost cuts and the success of new models such as Austral SUV and a Dacia Jogger hybrid, sold 1,133,667 vehicles between January and June, compared to 1,000,199 units in the same period of 2022, in a context impacted by the semiconductor crisis and the shutdown of the group's activities in Russia.

The rebound in sales comes after four consecutive years of declines.

Renault's order backlog in Europe represented 3.4 months of sales at the end of June 2023 and it should remain above the target of 2 months throughout the year, even with a market down 30% compared with 2019, the car maker said.

Alpine, Renault's premium sports brand relaunched in 2017, sold more than 1,800 units in the same period, with registrations up by 9%, helped by the launch of the Alpine A110 San Remo 73 and the Alpine A110 R Le Mans.

(Reporting by Diana Mandiá, editing by Silvia Aloisi)