Renault said on Thursday it had lost €2.7bn ($3.8bn) in the first half as its revenues slumped by more than a fifth and it booked losses worth €1.6bn from stakes in Nissan, Avtovaz and AB Volvo, the truckmaker.

France’s second-largest carmaker tempered news of the massive loss by lifting its sales forecast, and saying it would generate cash this year by making further deep cuts to its costs and producing no more cars than it could sell. The company generated cash of €848m in the first half, mainly by carefully managing inventory.