France Dec 2012: Dacia Sandero back in Top 10 after 2.5 years

Dacia Sandero

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

* See the Full Year 2012 post here *

December closes a difficult year for the French new car market at -15% year-on-year to 160,426 registrations, bringing the Full Year 2012 total to 1,898,872 registrations, down 14% on 2011 and the weakest annual figure in 15 years since the 1,713,030 units registered in 1997… If last month the Renault Clio IV flamboyantly took the lead of the French models ranking for its first full month of sales, the Peugeot 208 regains the top spot in December with 9,370 sales and 5.8%, pushing the Clio IV down to #2 at 6,439 units and 4%. This is the start of a cat and mouse battle for the title of most popular model in France that will last for the entire life of these two models…

The BMW 3 Series is at its highest in over 4 years in France this month…

The next 3 spots are unchanged vs. November, with the Citroen C3 at #3 with an estimated 2.8% share followed by the Renault Scenic at 2.4% and the VW Polo at 2.2%. This is the 5th time ever the Polo manages to rank within the French monthly Top 5 after December 2008 (#3), December 2011 (#4), January 2012 (#4) and November 2012 (#5). Remember the Polo is the only foreign model to have ever broken into the French monthly Top 5… Now that the new model has hit Renault dealerships, the Dacia Sandero jumps a huge 15 spots on November to land at #7 with 3,161 sales and 2%, its first time in the Top 10 since August 2010…

The Mercedes A-Class could well have already hit its highest ever French ranking this month…

It has missed a historical entry in the monthly Top 10 again this month, but the Nissan Qashqai still manages to hit a best-ever #12 spot with 2,549 sales and 1.6%, however not its strongest volume or share. Exceptional performance of the BMW 3 Series up 24 ranks to #22 with 1,865 sales and 1.2%, its highest ranking in over 4 years, since October 2008 when it was #20… Three Mercedes also shine this month: the A-Class is up 6 ranks to #27, potentially the nameplate’s highest ranking ever in France, the B-Class is also up 6 spots to #28, its second time in the Top 30 this year after last August (#22) and the C-Class is up 24 to #40, its highest since September 2011.

Incredibly, the Hyundai i40 just missed the Top 50 for 10 units this month…

Notice also the Toyota RAV4 in runout mode and up a massive 35 ranks to #30, the Kia Sportage up a further 4 spots to a record #44, the Hyundai i40 up to an incredible #51 with 972 sales, only 10 units below the Renault Laguna with which it competes, the Citroen C4 Aircross up 20 to #53, BMW 5 Series up to #57, Kia Cee’d up to #65 and Ford B-Max down 35 to #75. The Fiat 500L should break into the monthly Top 100 for the first time at #96 with 430 sales while the Dacia Dokker is getting close at #108 and 299 units.

Full Year post: France Full Year 2012: Last hurrah for the Renault Clio III

Previous post: France 1-24 December 2012: Peugeot 208 roars

2013 Forecast: France: My forecast for 2013

Previous month: France November 2012: Renault Clio IV snaps up pole position!

One year ago: France Full Year 2011: A Citroen on the podium for the first time since 1985

Full December 2012 Top 100 Ranking Table below.