The low-cost Duster sport utility vehicle led Renault's sales in 2014, a year which saw the French group rebound in Europe but run into difficulties in a number of emerging markets. Sales data released by Renault yesterday showed that overall its sales grew by 3.2 percent last year, trailing the 3.5 percent expansion of the global auto market. However, the data also show that the company's bet on the low-cost segment is paying off, accounting for three out of five of the group's top-selling models and nearly a third of overall sales of 2.7 million vehicles last year. Renault built up its Romanian subsidiary Dacia in the 2000s as a budget brand, but sells the vehicles under its own emblem in a number of countries. In fact more Dusters were delivered as Renaults than Dacias in 2014, and overall accounted for nearly 15 percent of total sales. Its low-cost focus helped Renault fare better than many competitors in slumping emerging markets, but its non-European sales fell 5.9 percent. "The Group held firm in crises and posted record market share in Brazil (7.1 percent) and Russia (7.9 percent)" the company said. In Europe, Renault said it increased its market share by 0.6 points to 10 percent as its volumes rose by 12.5 percent, double the market growth.