EVs reached 60% of Renault brand car sales in France over past days - brand CEO

PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Electric cars reached around 60 percent of Renault's sales in France over the past week-end, the brand CEO Fabrice Cambolive said on Sunday night, setting a new record in the wake of higher fuel prices. • The continuing rise in fuel prices - gasoline and diesel - has pushed up demand for EVs to new records, both in France and Europe.

• EVs reached 42 percent of new car registrations in France in September, and 53.5 percent for the sole Renault brand, for which France is the main market.

• To cope with the demand, Renault Group added early October half a shift at its Douai plant, where it makes three electric cars, the R5, the Mégane and the Nissan Micra. The site is now working in three shifts.

• Renaut Group will publish its Q3 sales on Oct 29.

• The current electric boom has brought forward the transition toward 100 per cent electric in Europe by around two years, said Flavien Neuvy, economist and head of the Observatoire Cetelem.

• Last week-end took place in France the last "open house" sales days of the year, with special offers for car buyers, ahead of the Paris auto show which opens to the public on Tuesday after Monday's press day.

(Reportage Gilles Guillaume;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)