France Full Year 2012 by regions: Check out the different tastes of the French…

The Peugeot 508 is #7 in Franche-Comté where Peugeot has its main manufacturing plant.

* See the Top 20 best-selling models in 22 French regions by clicking on the title! *

See a map of all French regions here

From the goldmine of data I found at the CCFA in Paris, the first piece I am sharing with you is a models ranking by region. This is extremely rare, I have been looking for this type of data for years and now it’s here! It’s always fascinating to see the differences in taste in each region and whether or not local manufacturing hubs influence the sales charts. Only thing is, this is for the Full Year 2012 which is starting to be a little old but better this than nothing I say!

The Renault Clio III is #1 in 20 of the 22 French regions in 2012.

The Renault Clio III, leader nationally for the last time in 2012 with 4.6% share, is #1 in 20 of the 22 French regions (like in 2011), great consistency for this model which achieves its best market share in Haute Normandie (the brand’s industrial hub) at 7.3%. Its successor the Clio IV, #26 nationally, manages to break into a regional Top 20 three times, reaching #19 in Midi-Pyrénées.

The Peugeot 208 is the best-seller in Franche-Comté.

The Peugeot 208, in its very first year, is the second model to achieve a regional pole position, “at home” in Franche-Comté where the main Peugeot factory is located. It reaches a mammoth 7.7% share there, nearly double that of the #2. In 2011 the Peugeot 207 had achieved 2 pole positions, here in Franche-Comté and in Corse. In fact, the Franche-Comté ranking is totally unique in the country and logically dominated by Peugeot, placing 5 models in the Top 7, and the PSA Group with 8 models in the Top 9 and 12 in the Top 16!

Peugeot 3008 is on the podium in Franche-Comté.

Along with the 208, 6 models achieve their best ranking in Franche-Comté, all from the PSA Group. The 3008 ranks at a fantastic third place with 3.9% share vs. 2.3% nationally, the 207 is 4th at 3.5% vs. 2.2%, the 508 is #7 (its only Top 10 ranking in any region) at 2.9% vs. 1.4%, the Citroen DS3 is #9 (again its only Top 10 ranking) at 2.5% vs. 1.3% and down 33% year-on-year so its performance was even greater in 2011, the 206+ is #13 at 2% vs. 1% and the 5008 is #15 at 1.8% vs. 1.2%.

The Citroen C3 is the best-seller in Bretagne.

The Citroen C3 is the third and last model to manage to rank #1 in at least one region this year, up from none in 2011, in Bretagne where it grabs 4.5% of the market vs. 3.3% nationally. Ranking #4 overall, the Renault Scénic misses out on the top spot in the biggest region, Ile-de-France (Paris) by just 38 units! It sells 13,956 there vs. 13,994 for the Clio III.

Now that the 2nd generation is on sale, will the Peugeot 308 be the best-seller in Corse in 2013?

The Renault Mégane achieves its best ranking in Poitou-Charentes (#2) while the Peugeot 308 rocks the house in Corse where it ranks #2 with a fantastic 4.9% market share vs. 2.2% nationally, even up 17% year-on-year whereas it was at the end of its life last year. Excellent performance of the VW Polo in Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur where it manages to climb onto the podium with 3.4% share vs. 2.3% nationally.

The Dacia Duster is #5 in Limousin and Bourgogne

Four models ranked outside the French Top 10 manage to jump inside at least one regional Top 5. The Dacia Duster is as expected most popular in the more remote regions: it is #5 in Limousin and Bourgogne (vs. #4 last year) and #6 in Auvergne. The VW Golf is up to #5 in Haute Normandie and the Renault Twingo is #5 in Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and Midi-Pyrenees.

One in four Opel Merivas registered in France are in Picardie… for a very simple reason.

The last one is the Opel Corsa but this requires a fuller explanation. Picardie, or more precisely the Oise department, is where almost all French short-term rentals are registered because it’s the department where car insurance is at its lowest price. Therefore all short-term rental company have a headquarter in the department in order to register all their models there. Now if you are a regular reader of BSCB you will know that Opel and Ford rely heavily on this type of channel. As a result, the Opel Corsa ranks at a rather artificial #4 in Picardie with 3.3% share vs. #17 and 1.4% nationally. Similarly, the Ford Fiesta is at a national best #7 there, the Opel Meriva is #13 with 1.8% share vs. #43 and 0.6% nationally (1 in 4 Merivas registered in the country!) and the Opel Astra is #20 at 1.4% vs. #47 and 0.6%, Picardie accounting for 1 in 5 Astras registered in France…

Full analysis and Top 20 models Ranking Tables for each region below.