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PSA Spearheads 10% August Gain in French Car Sales

PARIS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - PSA Peugeot Citroen led a 10 percent gain in French car registrations in August, helped by an extra selling day, the country's CCFA industry body said on Tuesday.

Registrations rose to 92,052 cars in the seasonally slow holiday month from 83,715 a year earlier, the CCFA said in a statement. Excluding the effects of an additional sales day, the year-on-year gain would have been a more modest 4.7 percent.

Paris-based PSA's 15 percent advance was led by an 18 percent rebound at the embattled Citroen brand, while sales of Peugeot models rose 14 percent.

Domestic rival Renault, whose low-cost Dacia marque had fared well during Europe's long market decline, lagged the market with a 3.5 percent group gain as Dacia slumped 16 percent.

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaking group, saw sales rise 12 percent in line with its namesake core brand, while upscale Audi jumped almost 19 percent.

Ford and General Motors both trailed the market, while buoyant sales by the Fiat brand helped Fiat Chrysler's registrations rise 15 percent.

Utility van registrations were almost flat in August, the CCFA said, paring the overall gain in light vehicle sales to 8.1 percent for the month.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost; editing by Geert De Clercq)