French Auto Sales Maintain Momentum in September

PARIS – Booming car sales by Dacia and Peugeot raised French results 6.3% in September and 2.1% for the year, to 1.3 million units.

Sales results released by the French automakers association, the CCFA, would seem to assure 2014 will break a string of year-on-year losses dating back to 2008.

Peugeot sales rose 25.7% in September and 7.5% on the year. Sister brand Citroen improved 7.3% in the month and 1.2% year-to-date. The Peugeot 308, named car of the year for 2014 by European journalists, was the big contributor, and the growth strengthened PSA Peugeot Citroen in its attempt to recover from big losses, much like Ford and Nissan have done in the recent past.

Renault sales were up just 0.9% in September, but the automaker’s low-cost Dacia brand saw sales jump 34.1%. Sandero hatchback deliveries climbed 57.3% and the Duster SUV rose 21.8%.

“The new Twingo and the new Trafic (commercial van) received an excellent welcome everywhere,” says Philippe Buros, Renault sales director in France. The automaker’s four commercial vans, Kangoo, Clio, Trafic and Master, were leaders in their segments in September, giving Renault 37.9% of the LCV market in France, its biggest share in eight years, he says.

Nissan was the only import brand to see a significant sales increase in the month, up 27.9%. For the nine months of 2014, Nissan was ahead 6.2%, holding 3.8% of the French market.

Ford was up 7.8% in September, bringing its year-to-date total to within 45 units of like-2013. General Motors slumped 18.1%, the same rate as year-to-date.

BMW cut into the Mercedes-Benz lead among premium brands with sales improving 16.0% in September. Audi deliveries slipped 3.5% but the Volkswagen luxury brand remained the segment leader year-to-date.