Peugeot Citroen on Wednesday reported a turnaround in sales in 2014 after three years of decline, 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.

In China, sales of Peugeot brands grew the fastest, surging 43.1 percent to 386,565 units, one-third of which were SUVs.

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 ($3.76 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 upscaling its brands.

Net losses in 2013 came in at 2.32 billion euros ($2.73 billion), down from 5.01 billion euros the previous year. Full-year figures for 2014 have yet to be released.

jul/cb/rl

PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN

Dongfeng Motor Corporation

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FAURECIA