France September 2010

-7% for the French car market in September 2010, which given the phasing out of the scrappage incentive scheme is actually not too bad. The year-to-date numbers are still up by 3%.

The Renault Clio is #1 this month for the 3rd time this year after January and April with a solid 6% market share ahead of the 5.8% of the Peugeot 207. In the Year-to-date ranking though the Peugeot 207 stays ahead with 5.7%.

The 3rd position of the Renault Twingo is a bit of a surprise: it hasn’t ranked that high since February when the scrappage incentive was still in place. Its 4.1% market share is very strong, its highest since March.

Two more Renaults follow: The Scenic climbs back to 4th after a dismal 9th position in August, and the Megane drops to 5th after 3 months spent in 3rd place. In spite of this the Megane climbs to 4th overall in 2010 at 3.5%, passing the Dacia Sandero which suffered from the closure of its Romanian factory in August (only 18th this month).

Full ranking table, Citroen DS3’s performance and more commentaries below.