France/Europe: 1935-2012 Complete Historical Data in the works!

Good old me with Marie-Dominique Riehl from the CCFA. Thanks Joana for the pic!

This week I have been paying an almost daily visit to the Comité des Constructeurs Français d’Automobiles (CCFA) in Paris. The CCFA publishes French new car sales figures every month and is my source for each French monthly report I have been writing on BSCB. Marie-Dominique Riehl, responsible for CCFA archives, has been absolutely amazing and literally opened the Pandora’s box of French car sales stats to me: I was able to get my hands on detailed data literally from scratch: since sales statistics started getting published in the French press in 1935! There are also many European stats from the ‘Common Market’ creation in the fifties onwards…

This microfilm says it all: “A truth comes to light in France: numbers and statistics are indispensable to the manufacturer or salesman. They enable the management of a business and the planning of future activity.” Yes indeed! And thank you L’Argus Magazine for having this genius idea as early as May 1936. Now I have 77 years of very detailed sales data by brand, model, type, origin and destination for me to go through over the next few months. I will be sharing every step of the way with you! A big thank you to Marie-Dominique Riehl for your patience, wit, availability, passion and knowledge.