France 1-20 February 2012: Renault Clio and Citroen C4 impress
Citroen C4
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to STAC *
The French car market is down 26% year-on-year over the first 3 weeks of February at 91,400 registrations. In the brands ranking, Renault ranks #1 with 15,685 sales and 17.2% share (-32%) but Citroen is just below at 15,181 units and 16.6% (-23%) leaving Peugeot in third place with 13,581 sales and 14.9% (-43%): the 208 launch is eagerly awaited…
The Renault Clio stays by far the best-selling model in the country and even lodges the smallest decline of the Top 10 at just -4% thanks to 5,202 units sold for a 5.7% market share. The Citroen C3 is #2 with 3,877 sales (-17%) just above the Peugeot 207 at 3,843 units (-47%). Good hold of the Renault Megane at -10% in 4th position, followed by the evergreen VW Polo (-15%) and Renault Scenic (-20%).
The Citroen C4 shines in 7th place with 2,363 sales and 2.6%, if it maintains this rank up until the end of the month it will be this generation’s best-ever position, beating the 10th place it reached last December. The VW Golf is still valiant at #8 with 2,338 units, above the Peugeot 308 at 2,220 sales (-33%).
Previous post: France 8-13 February 2012: Renault Clio and Citroen C3 shine
Previous month: France January 2012: VW places Polo #4, Golf #7, Citroen DS5 up
Full 1-20 February 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.
France 1-20 February 2012:
| Pos | Model | 1 to 20 Feb | % | /11 | Jan | Dec | 2011 |
| 1 | Renault Clio | 5,202 | 5.7% | -4% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Citroen C3 | 3,877 | 4.2% | -17% | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| 3 | Peugeot 207 | 3,843 | 4.2% | -47% | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Renault Mégane | 3,113 | 3.4% | -10% | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | VW Polo | 2,818 | 3.1% | -15% | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Renault Scénic | 2,525 | 2.8% | -20% | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| 7 | Citroen C4 | 2,363 | 2.6% | -22% | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| 8 | VW Golf | 2,338 | 2.6% | -17% | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 9 | Peugeot 308 | 2,220 | 2.4% | -33% | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| 10 | Renault Twingo | 2,182 | 2.4% | -43% | 6 | 3 | 5 |
Source: Auto Plus, many thanks to STAC for sharing the data!
Think the C4 is a pretty good car, with a modern, expressive front, decent underpinnings/engines and a nice dash. The rearlights and C pillar are less attractive though.
Southern Europe seems to appreciate the C4 (and C3) more than northern EU.
Duster in not in sight – was a surprising new entry in the French Top 10 last year.
In general, the car sales in the French market are horrendous.
I’m beginning to warm up to the C4. Still think they could have done a much better job with the way it looks though.