France April 2013: 3 units separate Renault Clio IV & Peugeot 208!

Peugeot 208 T16. The 208 misses the pole position for just 3 sales this month.

* See the Top 100 best-selling models and Top 18 brands by clicking on the title! *

The French new car market seems to slow down its fall in April at -5% to 157,859 registrations, however this is compared to the worst April in 15 years last year, and with one additional working day this year the drop is actually equivalent to 10% which is in line with the first 3 months of 2013. Year-to-date, the market is down 12% to 591,741 units and we are now looking at a Full Year 2013 total of 1.75 million units, the worst year since 1997. We knew the fight between the Renault Clio 4 and Peugeot 208 would be close but this month possibly delivers the smallest gap between #1 and #2 in France ever: at 9,461 units, the Clio 4’s advantage over  the 208 is only 3 sales! Both models hold a solid 6% market share, more than double any other car in the market.

Renault Captur

The VW Golf benefits fully from the new model at an excellent 7th place, up 35% year-on-year to 3,637 units and 2.3% while the Dacia Sandero is back within the French Top 10 for the third time in the last 5 months at #8 with 3,328 sales and 2.1%. Notice also the Citroen DS3 up 9 ranks to #11 and the Citroen C3 Picasso up 6 to #15. The Renault Captur continues to climb the ladder, up a further 13 spots on March to land just outside the Top 20 at #22 with 1,934 units and 1.2%.

Peugeot 2008

Further down, the Audi A3 is up 3 ranks to #30, the BMW 3 Series is up 12 to #35, Seat Leon up 30 to #45, Kia Sportage up 12 to #47, Renault Zoe down 19 to #59, Dacia Dokker is up 16 to #61 and the new gen Kia Carens appears at #80. Finally the Peugeot 2008 breaks into the French Top 100 for the first time, landing directly in 65th position with 688 sales and 0.4% share.

Previous post: France 1-22 April 2013: Citroen C4 Picasso back in Top 10

Previous month: France March 2013: Nissan Qashqai in Top 10! Renault Captur #35!

One year ago: France April 2012: Peugeot 208 in Top 10, Dacia Lodgy lands

Full April 2013 Top 100 models and Top 18 brands Ranking Tables below.