PARIS (AP) _ Renault SA shares rose Tuesday after chief executive Carlos Ghosn said in a newspaper interview that he expects sales to rise ``continuously'' starting in September as the company introduces new models.

Ghosn foresees a ``revival'' in the French auto market, he said in Le Parisien on Tuesday. Next year and 2009 ``should be good years'' for France's second-largest carmaker, he said.

Renault shares rose 1.8 per cent to C114.61 (US$154.30).

Customers have been resisting Renault's aging model line, but the company is launching new models in the second half of the year and hopes sales will pick up.

Ghosn told the newspaper that the new Renault Twingo small car, which goes on sale later this this month, will compete with Fiat SpA's new 500.