RENAULT SA, France's second-largest carmaker, slashed its 2009 unit-sales target and pledged cuts in production costs and jobs to meet profit goals, amid soaring raw material prices and flagging European auto markets.

Renault reduced the sales target by 10 percent to 3 million vehicles while reiterating its operating-margin goals of 4.5 percent in 2008 and 6 percent next year, Bloomberg News reported. First-half revenue rose 2.3 percent to 20.9 billion euros (US$32.8 billion) and operating profit jumped 20 percent to 865 million euros.

'It's good news that they're keeping their target, providing we know where the 6 percent will come from,' said Gaetan Toulemonde, a Paris-based Deutsche bank analyst with a 'buy' rating on the stock. 'Renault still needs to disclose a little more about the cost savings.'

Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn plans to scrap some vehicle programs, trim European production and seek about 5,000 voluntary departures in an effort to offset dwindling sales growth. He also scaled back Renault's ambitions by shelving development of successors to the aging Espace minivan.

The operating profit figure, which beat the 840-million-euro median of nine analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey, amounted to a 4.1-percent margin for the first half, compared with 3.5 percent a year earlier.