France March 2014: quick Cannes Photo Report
Peugeot 308 II in Cannes, France.
I’m taking advantage of a short stay in the South of France to update you all quickly on the French car landscape. Last time I was here was in September 2013, and I then saw “a surprising amount of Peugeot 2008 but not as many Renault Captur. It is different now, with the Captur very frequent in the streets, a lot of them with a personalised colour scheme. Still, I have the impression I saw more Peugeot 2008 again.
Renault Clio IV in Cannes, France
The fight between the Peugeot 208 and the Renault Clio IV is now in its third year in France and it shows: they are absolutely everywhere.
Peugeot 2008 in Cannes, France
A model that had just launched when I was here last is the 2nd generation Peugeot 308, and more than just spotting my first one during the first day of my stay in the region, I have been seeing quite a few, I would say 5-6 a day, over the past 10 days. So its frequent appearance among the French Top 10 best-sellers over the past 5 months (#8 in February) translates in the streets, even though (it’s my luck!) the one pictured in this article is a rental car registered in Oise (“60”).
Citroen C4 Picasso II in Cannes, France
The same can’t be said for the 2nd generation Citroen C4 Picasso, which I have picked less often than the 308, even though it ranked #4 overall in France in February. This could be a particularity to the region though, and it doesn’t mean there are no new C4 Picasso, just slightly less than new 308.
Dacia Logan in Cannes, France
A few trends I observed during my last stay are still valid, notably the high prevalence of Fiat 500L (90% of them being rental cars) and Dacia Sandero, with the addition of a couple of new generation Logan…
Previous Nice/Cannes Photo Report: France September 2013: Cannes-Nice hinterland Photo Report
This Post Has 4 Comments
@matgasnier
Actually, even the rental companies don’t buy them. These 3 pictures were 3 cars lent by PSA to Europcar to test how their customers welcome the new models. It was OK for the C4 Picasso, but not for the 2008 and the 308: as you can see on the pictures, the customers have just parked and definitively abandoned these two cars. The former driver of the 308 is even walking on the picture of the Logan and he looks really annoyed his test drive.
Haha, like so much your ironic answer Matt ! You can live anywhere in the world, you keep our French humour… It’s both a bless (when talking to people who get it) and a curse (when talking to the others).
Hi Thomas, glad someone noticed the irony of it!
Best,
Matt
The 308, 2008 and C4 Picasso pictured in your post are all rental cars. Is that surprising ? Does it mean Peugeot and Citroën only sell to rental fleet ?
Hello Nicolas,
Yes of course 3 pictures mean Peugeot and Citroen only sell to rental fleet and no one buys them 😉
Cheers,
Matt