Global auto sales likely will grow between 1% and 2% this year, Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co.’s Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Monday, projecting higher U.S. and China sales would offset weakness in emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil.
In the U.S., where auto sales grew 5.7% to a record 17.5 million vehicles last year, volume growth likely will slow to about 1% this year, Mr. Ghosn said. “We are seeing something around 17.7 [million vehicles] for 2016,” he said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
In China, the world’s biggest auto market and where monthly sales recently have been volatile, overall volume likely would expand by between 4% and 5% in 2016, he said. Full-year results for 2015 aren’t yet available.