France October 2012: Renault Clio IV up to #4

November 5, 2012
Matt Gasnier

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 160 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

New car sales in France are down 8% year-on-year in October to 162,411 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,593,920 units, down 13% on 2011. Note the CCFA doesn’t publish some models detail so a few figures are BSCB’s estimates for now. The Peugeot 208 is the most popular model in France for the 4th consecutive time with 9,405 sales and 5.8%, its strongest monthly volume so far and 2nd highest market share below the 6.4% it reached in August. The Renault Clio III is still #2 with 6,360 sales, while the Citroen C3 is back on the podium at 6,187 units.

The Renault Clio IV is up 4 spots on last month to a brilliant 4th place with 4,721 sales and 2.9%, now adding up to just under 8,000 units, 50% of which are dealership sales. Renault says 18,000 orders have been received so far in spite of a 13,700€ starting price vs. 9,990€ for the Peugeot 208. This is slightly higher than Renault’s expectations, however Renault overall sales are down a painful 27% year-on-year in October. Now with actuals, the Citroen C4 ranks #8 and not #6 as estimated earlier, meaning the nameplate’s highest ever ranking in France is still #6, reached in October 2005.

Fiat 500 L

The Peugeot 3008 is very solid at #6 while the VW Polo is back up 4 spots to #7. Notice also the Ford Fiesta up 5 to #12 and the Dacia Duster up 4 to #14. Further down, the Citroen DS3 is up 5 ranks on last month to #16, its highest ranking since last April while the Fiat 500 is up a massive 10 spots to land at #22, its highest ranking since… January 2009! The Dacia Lodgy is up a shy 2 spots to #28, the Audi A1 is also up one to #32, just below its highest ever of #31 last August and the BMW 3 Series ranks at a solid #34 vs. #52 year-to-date.

Kia Sportage

The Citroen DS5 is up to #43, its 2nd best ranking below the #41 it reached last April, the Ford Kuga is up 23 spots to #45 helped by the new model, the Ford B-Max lands at #49, the Kia Sportage is up 6 ranks to #53 and the VW Up! is up 10 to #54. Notice also the Mercedes A-Class stable at #56, the Toyota Auris up 10 to #57, the Audi Q3 up 23 to #58 and the Toyota Prius/Prius+ up 4 to #68 vs. #101 year-to-date.

Previous post: France 1-22 October 2012: Citroen C4 #3, Nissan Qashqai in Top 10