French Car Sales Backslide by Double Digits in August

PARIS – After a small positive bump in July, registrations of new cars in France fell 10.9% in August, slightly more than the year-to-date figure of 9.9%.

Nonetheless, the CCFA industry association continues to believe the year will end 8% below 2012, based on the current pace of orders.

The August total of 85,585 units would have been worse without almost 17,000 registrations made in the final two days, a sign that some auto makers may have been forcing their numbers upward.

Autoactu.com, which has access to detailed sales figures, reports deliveries to individuals fell 14.5% in August, more than the market decline of 10.9%. Private buyers now account for just 51.8% of the French market.

Renault deliveries grew for the second month in a row, up 4.6% in the month. Both the new Clio and Captur small cross/utility vehicle are selling well, with the Clio the No.1 model in the market with 68,120 units year-to-date.

In addition to the Clio, the Twingo, Megane and Scenic were leaders in their respective segments in August, says Bernard Cambier, Renault commercial director-France, and “we confirm, as with the preceding months, that we are in line with our plan for the market,”

Dacia deliveries fell 5.9% for the month, but strong sales of the Sandero kept Renault 7.0% ahead on the year and raised the auto maker’s market share one point, to 23.7%.

PSA Peugeot Citroen remained France’s leading auto maker through August with 29.7% of the market, but it lost the one point of share that Renault gained. Registrations of Peugeot and Citroen cars dropped 17.1% and 17.4%, respectively, last month.

Peugeot is preparing the launch of its new 308 in the Megane segment, which it expects to improve its record. Citroen is product-constrained for the Citroen C3, which will be moving from the soon-to-close Aulnay plant.

Volkswagen, Ford and Nissan continued their downward trends in August, but General Motors enjoyed a second good summer month with the new Trax small CUV helping Chevrolet sales surge 63.7%, and even Opel gained some share by falling only 6.1%.

Mercedes-Benz registrations tumbled 39.0% in the month, with all A-Class, B-Class, CLA and SL sales temporarily banned by the French ecology ministry. The models use an air-conditioner coolant outlawed in most of Europe because it is deemed dangerous to the environment. But Mercedes parent Daimler contends R1234yf, the legal alternative used by all other auto makers, is dangerously flammable.

A French court has ruled in Mercedes’s favor, and several thousand vehicles already sold will probably be registered in September.

Fiat continued its improvement in August, as a 9.9% sales increase raised the group’s year-to-date result 0.6%. Toyota and Hyundai were down but remained ahead for the year.