France 1986: Renault Supercinq edges out Peugeot 205

Renault Supercinq

* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to STAC *

New car sales in France are back in shape, up 9% this year to 1,909,304 registrations. Both the Renault Supercinq and Peugeot 205 have reached their cruising speed and both models deliver exceptional results. The Supercinq ends the year as the best-selling car in France for the first time with 219,570 sales and a very strong 11.5% share. It delivered what would remain its highest ever monthly share at 13.7% in March and has ranked #1 for 8 out of 12 months.

Peugeot 205

The Peugeot 205 is slightly lower than last year given the Supercinq competition but still delivers an impressive 205,860 sales and 10.8%, peaking at 12.7% in August and ranking #1 for 3 months.

Renault 21

A new entrant shook the ranking this year, the Renault 21. Launched in March, it hit a massive 10.5% market share in June, threatened the Supercinq and 205 for the first place most of the year to finish 3rd at 145,107 units and 7.6%. It may even have ranked 1st in May but I don’t have official figures for that month (if you do please get in touch!). The Citroen BX is down one spot to #4 but still solid at 124,105 sales and 6.5%, it hit its highest monthly share ever in August at 8.9%. That figure is still today the highest monthly share achieved by any Citroen model since at least 1980 (so 31 years…!)

Citroen BX

For its first full year of sales the Peugeot 309 ranks 6th at 91,646 units and 4.8%, slightly under expectations, while the Renault 25 is still strong at #7 with 3.6%. There are 3 foreign models in the Top 10 (a first) led by the Opel Corsa at #8 (2.6%) followed by the VW Golf and Fiat Uno (both at 2.3%).

Previous year: see the 1985 France Top 172 best-selling French models here.

Full Year 1986 Top 100, Monthly Top 10 Ranking Tables and every model sales below.