France 1 to 12 March 2012: 4 foreigners in Top 10!

Opel Corsa

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The French market continues to readjust after being boosted by scrappage schemes in 2010-2011, down 21% year-on-year over the first 12 days of March at 53,315 registrations. Now that the Peugeot 208 is arriving in concessions, the 207 is promoted hard and ranks #1 over the period with 2,692 sales and 5% share, ahead of the Renault Clio at 2,282 units and 4.3% and the Citroen C3 with 1,655 units and 3.1%.

In fact Citroen is the only manufacturer to place 3 models in the Top 10 over the period with the C4 Picasso at #8 and the C4 at #10 and even takes the lead in the brands ranking with 8,618 sales and 16.2%, followed by Peugeot at 14.8% and Renault at a worrying 12.6%.

The real heroes in the ranking are (again) foreign models. We thought that Volkswagen’s euphoric months were over, not so! The VW Polo climbs back up to an amazing 4th place only 54 units away from the podium at 1,601 sales, followed closely by the VW Golf at #5 and 1,575 units, both models grabbing 3% of the French market.

There are two more foreigners in the Top 10: the Opel Corsa at #7 and 2.6% and the Ford Fiesta at #9 and 2.3%. The Corsa hasn’t been in the monthly Top 10 since last May and the Fiesta since last September. If this stays the same until the end of the month it will be the first time ever that 4 imports rank within the French monthly Top 10!

Previous post: France February 2012: Mercedes B Class and Kia Rio impress

One year ago: France March 2011: Citroen C3 and Dacia Duster beat records

Full 1 to 12 March 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.