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France August 2012: Dacia Lodgy #10 in worst month in 15 years

Dacia Lodgy

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 215 best-selling models!  Click on title to see *

The French new car market is down 11% year-on-year in August to just 96,511 registrations, the weakest monthly total and first time below 100,000 units since June 1997 when 93,171 new vehicles were registered, and the worst August score since 1976. The year-to-date total stands at 1,294,021 units, down 13% on 2011. Peugeot is the best-selling manufacturer for the second consecutive month with 17.2% share ahead of Renault, down 30% year-on-year to 16.2%, its worst ever share recorded in France. Note that for the first time in the 113 year-history of Renault, France is no longer its #1 market in the world, Brazil is.

Peugeot 208

Fresh leader of the market since last month, the Peugeot 208 confirms it is now the country’s favourite car, selling 6,170 units for a record 6.4% share, the highest for any Peugeot since the 6.9% reached by the 207 in February 2010. The Renault Clio is #2 at 5.4%, followed by the Renault Megane at 3.2%, the Citroen C3 at 2.7% and the Peugeot 308 up 4 spots to #5 and 2.3%.

Dacia places 3 models in the French Top 13 in August

The big event this month (and if you are a regular BSCB reader this is not a surprise) is the 10th place of the Dacia Lodgy, its very first time in the French (and any country’s) Top 10 only 5 months after its launch. Since the brand was relaunched by Renault in 2004, all Dacias have broken into the French monthly Top 10 at some stage, with the Logan peaking at #7 in December 2007, the Sandero at #2 in March 2010 and the Duster at #5 in November 2011. The Lodgy is however the fastest of them to reach the Top 10.

There are more good news for Dacia: with the Duster holding itself in an excellent 7th place and the Sandero at #14, the French/Romanian brand places 3 models in the Top 15 for the very first time. This is as many as Peugeot and Citroen and one less than Renault… Dacia is up 21% year-on-year in August to 6.2% share and up to 9% with private buyers.

Toyota Yaris

Further down, the Toyota Yaris is up one spot to #17, its highest ranking since November 2008 (#15) and now just below the Nissan Qashqai, the VW Tiguan equals the highest ever position it reached last month at #20, the Nissan Juke is also outstanding at #21 while the Mercedes B-Class delivers its best ever ranking at #22, beating the #28 it hit in January 2007 and lodging the highest ranking of any Mercedes in France since the C-Class hit #19 in August 2004

Mercedes B-Class

Notice also the VW Passat up 16 ranks to #30, the BMW 1 Series up 4 to #35 (its best since the #26 it hit in August 2008), the Kia Sportage breaking into the French Top 50 for the first time at #50, the Kia Rio very solid at #51, the Mercedes A-Class up 49 spots to #52 thanks to the new gen, the Audi Q3 at #54, the Citroen C4 Aircross up 14 to #69 and the new gen VW Beetle up to a record #74. The Peugeot 301 sells 4 units, the Citroen C-Elysee and Dacia Dokker one each.

Previous post: France 1-27 August: Dacia Lodgy confirms Top 10 spot

Photo report: France August 2012: Dacia, king of the countryside

Previous month: France July 2012: Now with the Top 327 best-selling models

One year ago: France August 2011: Renault Clio leads, Nissan Juke almost in Top 20

Full August 2012 Top 215 Ranking Table below.

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