France June 2012: Dacia Lodgy in Top 30, Peugeot 301 and Dacia Dokker make their first appearance

Dacia Lodgy

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 110 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

The French car market is holding rather well in June at -1% year-on-year to 208,225 registrations, meaning halfway through the year sales are down 14% on 2011 to 1,048,298. While it held the top spot for most of the month, the Renault Scenic has not managed to keep it till the end and finishes June at #2 with 8,658 sales and 4.2% just below the Renault Clio at 9,109 units and 4.4% with the Citroen C3 ranking third with 7,715 sales and 3.7%.

Peugeot 208

The Renault Megane is #4 followed by the Peugeot 208 stable at #5 but with a market share improving from 2.9% in May to 3.6% thanks to 7,440 sales. The 208 is now only 0.8 percentage point away from the Clio and with first images of the Clio 4 revealed this week it is reasonable to anticipate that Clio sales will suffer over the next couple of months, potentially giving an opportunity to the 208 to grab the top spot in the meantime…

The VW Polo is back into #1 import at #7 and 2.6%, the Citroen C4 Picasso is back in the Top 10 for the first time since August 2011, the Nissan Qashqai reaches its highest French ranking a second time after last March at #15 and the Peugeot 5008 is up to a shiny #16.

The best performance of the month is delivered by the Dacia Lodgy continuing its accelerated progression to the top of the ranking: it now breaks into the French Top 30 for the very first time at #29 with 1,975 sales and 0.9% share, double its May figure and playing a big part in Dacia ranking 5th best-selling brand in France this month behind Renault, Peugeot, Citroen and Volkswagen. I still predict a spot in the Top 10 within the next 12 months for the Lodgy.

Dacia Dokker

Other great performers include the Citroen DS5 in the Top 50 for the 4th month in a row at #50, the Hyundai ix35 up 32 spots to #56, the Renault Koleos up 21 to #64, the new generation Hyundai i30 up 20 to #70 and the Toyota GT-86 up from 2 units in May to 262 in June at #111. Notice also the Citroen C4 Aircross at 204 sales (vs. 226 in May) and the Peugeot 4008 at 118 units (vs. 158 in May).

1932 and 2012 Peugeot 301

There are a few newcomers in the ranking: among them the Volvo V40 at 73 sales, the Dacia Dokker with 47 units and the Peugeot 301 with 9 even though it is not planned for sales in Western Europe. And this is the opportunity for me to point out the historical naming change Peugeot has announced. The number series will now stay frozen as all new models’ names will end with -08. This means the Peugeot 208’s replacement will still be called 208 and not 209. On the other hand, all ‘low-cost’ models’ names will end with -01, the Peugeot 301 being the first to adopt this new system… For the list of all Peugeots since the creation of the brand click here.

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One year ago: France June 2011: Renault Clio and Megane on podium

Full June 2012 Top 110 Ranking Table below.