Paris - Faced with a weakening automobile market and rising costs for raw materials and transport, French auto maker Renault said Thursday it would cut jobs to reduce overhead costs by 10 per cent.

The move was to be based primarily on what the company said would be "voluntary departures," most of them in Europe. The announcement was made as Renault announced excellent first-half profits and sales results.

Renault provided no details about how many jobs would be cut, but French radio station RTL reported Thursday that it involved some 7,000 employees, most of them in France.

The station also said that Renault head Carlos Ghosn had discussed the step with French President Nicolas Sarkozy late Wednesday.

Renault also said it would reduce investment in research, freeze hiring in Europe and raise the prices of its automobiles to set off the effects of the high price of crude oil, which was weakening the European automobile market, and high raw material costs.

On Thursday, Renault also reported that estimated profits in the first half of 2008 had risen by 36.7 per cent, to 1.467 billion euros (2.318 billion dollars), compared to the same period last year.

First-half turnover was up by 2.3 per cent, to 20.94 billion euros, with automobile sales rising 2.2 per cent, to 19.89 billion euros. (dpa)