France December 2014: BMW and Mercedes finish on a high

The third generation Mini hits a best-ever #26 in France this month.

* UPDATED – see the Top 350 All-models and Top 50 All-brands by clicking on the title *

December is here to remind the French market it is well and truly stuck in hell: down a horrendous 7% to 163,382 deliveries just as the rest of Europe is slowly shaking off 7 years of recession, which means the final 2014 total is marginally higher than 2013 (+0.3%). December sales figures are always biased by last-minute promotions favouring specific manufacturers and this year is no exception: Volkswagen (8.8% of the market vs. 7.8% in 2014) places the Polo at #6 and the Golf VII at #13, the only two foreign models inside the Top 15, BMW jumps 5 spots on November to an outstanding 6th place with 4.1% share vs. 2.7% over 2014 while Mercedes is up 4 to #8 and 3.8% vs. 2.7%.

The Mercedes GLA also breaks its French monthly ranking record in December.

Citroen has chosen a very bad timing to separate sales of its DS premium brand: appearing for the first time in the ranking at #18 with 1,950 sales compared to over 3,000 a year ago, an abysmal 36% drop to be compared to -27% over the Full Year 2014… Citroen itself (-21%), Dacia (-18%), Ford, Toyota (both at -22%) and Kia (-27%) also experienced a nightmarish December.

The Renault Zoe lodges its 2nd-ever month above 1,000 sales at home at a record 1,182.

Model-wise, the Renault Clio IV is more dominant than ever at 11,111 sales and 6.8% share, a massive 2.3 percentage points share above its rival the Peugeot 208 (4.5%), threatened for 2nd place by the Renault Captur (4.2%) very regular at the highest levels at home. The Peugeot 308 II continues to satisfy at #4, the Renault Twingo III makes its 2nd-ever appearance in the monthly Top 10 after last September at #10, while the Citroen C4 Cactus (#18), Mini III (#26), Mercedes GLA (#31), Renault ZOE (#32) and VW Golf Sportsvan (#34) all break their monthly ranking records this month. Notice also the Mercedes A-Class and C-Class strong at #25 and #47 respectively.

The Lexus NX300h already knocks at the French Top 100’s door.

Just outside the Top 50, the Toyota Aygo II also breaks its monthly ranking record in France at #51, as does the BMW 2 Series at #60 thanks to the arrival of the Active Tourer, the Jeep Renegade breaks into the monthly French Top 100 for the first time at #73, the Nissan X-Trail does a good job at replacing the Nissan Qashqai+2 at #76, the BMW X4 is up to #88, the Ford Ecosport at #93, Nissan Pulsar up to #104, Lexus NX300h up to #118 and the Smart Forfour up to #130.

Previous month: France November 2014: Worst November score in 40 years

One year ago: France December 2013: Citroen C3 above Peugeot 208 for the first time

Full December 2014 Top 350 All-models and Top 50 All-brands below.