Home-Grown Brands Lead French Sales Resurgence

PARIS – Double-digit improvements by Renault, Peugeot, Citroen and Dacia carried the French market for passenger cars to a 7.7% sales gain in March, while all non-French brands were down 0.5%.

According to the CCFA industry association of automakers, Dacia car sales rose 52.7%, Peugeot was up 16.4%, Citroen 13.5% and Renault 14.0%.

All the non-French groups lost market share during March, although the Lexus and Opel brands gained with double-digit advances of 35.5% and 17.4% respectively. Sales improved less than 5% for the BMW, Fiat, General Motors, Nissan and Volkswagen groups.

“The market in March is traditionally the most important of the year in registrations and orders,” says Bernard Cambier, Renault’s sales director for France. “Our 20.6% improvement for the month is particularly satisfying.”

The March results pulled the French market, Europe’s second-largest, ahead for the year 2.6%. For the first quarter, Renault sales were ahead of the prior year 11.9% and PSA Peugeot Citroen was ahead 8.5%. Non-French brands were down 5.1%.

The French automakers have some popular new products, and there is considerable marketing competition among them as well. Only Nissan, Toyota and Fiat groups are selling ahead of their pace a year earlier.

While sales are rising, they still are low historically, and 2013 was the worst year in two decades.

Jean-François Belorgey, an analyst with Ernest & Young consultants, tells the business newspaper Les Echos no one had expected much market growth in the first quarter. CCFA spokesman Francois Roudier says the industry continues to worry about sales, and “we remain prudent for the rest of the year.”

Still, France now is contributing to the overall improvement in Europe. Spain’s industry association Anfac reports sales in Spain rose 10% in March, the seventh straight month of improvement and bringing first-quarter growth to 11.8%. Spain has a government incentive plan in place.

In France after three months, Renault’s new Clio IV was the country’s best-selling vehicle, followed by the Peugeot 208, Renault Captur, Citroen C3 II, Peugeot 2008, Dacia Sandero, Citroen C4 II Picasso, Renault Scenic, Peugeot 308 II and Renault Megane. The VW Polo, at No.12, was the highest-ranking non-French car.

Small cars increasingly are favored in France. Segments A and B accounted for 55% of the market, up from 52% a year earlier. In Europe overall, those segments account for 43% of the market.

At the recent Geneva auto show, Renault presented its new Twingo and PSA unveiled the new Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1. The trend likely will continue when those three A-segment entries begin reaching the market.

At the same time, consumer taste in body styles is moving rapidly toward small SUVs. Typical hatchbacks and sedans made up 60% of the market in first-quarter 2013, and 55% this year, while the SUV segment rose from 16% to 22%. The Renault Captur is a significant new CUV entry and the Dacia Duster is No.13 on the best-seller chart, just behind the VW Polo.