France 1950: Renault 4CV and Peugeot 203 on top

Renault 4CV

In 1950, the French market is rebooted: rationing tickets are a thing of the past, the sale of petrol is not controlled anymore, people can move wherever they want inside the country and raw materials are more widely available. New passenger car and light commercial vehicle registrations leap up 51.8% year-on-year to 173.100 units, making France the largest car market in Europe by far, 3 times the volume of the UK, the 2nd biggest. This is the largest annual volume in France since before World War II in 1938. Imports bounce back up 193% to 4.816 including 4.251 private cars. They come from Germany (1.851 incl. 1.449), the USA (1.807 incl. 1725), the UK (439 incl. 381), Benelux (411 incl. 401) and Canada (11 incl. 10) with a further 297 incl. 285 uncategorised.

The Peugeot 203 ranks #2 in France in 1950.

The four main French carmakers hold a suffocating 86% share this year, albeit a little looser on the 88% from 1949. Renault (+31%) can’t march the market growth, resulting in a lowered but still dominant 31.8% share ahead of Citroen (+67%) and Peugeot (+78%) both significantly improving their footprint at home. Simca (+32%) sees its share thaw to 12.5% with Ford France (+72%) and Panhard (+102%) in tow.

Panhard Dyna

The Renault 4CV is king of the roads, accounting for 9 in 10 Renault sales at home this year. It distances the Peugeot 203 holding almost the entirety of Peugeot sales in France in 1950, and the Citroen Traction Avant accounting for almost 8 in 10 Citroens sold in the country. The Citroen 2CV is up 605% to end its first full year of sales at home in 7th place overall.

Full Year 1950 Top 10 brands and Top 15 models below.