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Supplier Faurecia Raises 2015 Profit Margin

* Faurecia raises 2015 cash flow goal

* Targets 4.5-5 pct H2 op margin

* Shares open higher (Adds comment, detail, background)

By Laurence Frost

PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) - French car parts maker Faurecia said on Friday it was on track to beat its 2015 profitability target, sending its shares higher after first-half earnings almost doubled thanks to a recovering European car market and the help of a weaker euro.

Net income rose to 157 million euros ($172 million) in January-June from 80 million a year earlier, Faurecia said, as revenue jumped 12.6 percent to 10.51 billion euros.

The strong showing reflected sales growth in Europe and North America "clearly outperforming automotive production in both regions", Chief Executive Yann Delabriere said.

Faurecia's shares were up 2 percent at 38.19 euros at 0703 GMT. The maker of car seats, interiors, exhausts and body parts said sales to Renault-Nissan surged 22 percent, while business with Ford rose 8 percent before currency effects.

Europe's return to solid market growth is lifting the fortunes of its car industry and stoking renewed interest in consolidation among suppliers including Faurecia, which is 50.8 percent-owned by PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The company set an operating margin goal of 4.5-5 percent for the second half after hitting 4 percent in the first -- the target it had previously pledged to beat for the full year.

Faurecia has declined to comment on reports this week that it is exploring a sale of its bumpers business. A source familiar with the matter has told Reuters such a move is under consideration.

The company recently dropped plans to dispose of its front-end modules after failing to clinch a sale. The exteriors division, which includes both businesses, is Faurecia's least profitable with a 2.2 percent margin.

First-half sales and profit rose across all divisions and regions, Faurecia said, except crisis-hit Latin America.

Revenue jumped 9.3 percent in Europe and almost 26 percent in North America -- with most of that gain coming from currency effects as U.S. dollar sales are converted into a weaker euro.

Majority owner Peugeot has said Faurecia itself is "not strategic" for the carmaker, while indicating the time is not yet right for a sale.

"There are plenty of reasons to believe Faurecia's value will keep growing," Peugeot CEO Carlos Tavares said in a March interview with a French financial weekly. "So it's not an opportune question today."

($1 = 0.9111 euros) (Additional reporting by Alexander Huebner and Gilles Guillaume; Editing by James Regan and Mark Potter)