France 1-12 November 2014: Volkswagen above Renault

The VW Polo is only 22 sales below the Renault Clio IV so far this month in France.

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands and models by clicking on the title *

Still no sign of improvement for the French new car market whereas the rest of Europe is taking off: sales are down 7% year-on-year over the first 12 days of November, with local manufacturers hit the hardest: they only account for 40% of the overall market. Peugeot is down 6%, Citroen down 15% and Renault down 21% to fall below Volkswagen at 3,430 sales vs. 3,570. However intermediary rankings such as this one are always to be taken with a grain of salt as they are heavily influenced by promotions and specific manufacturers policies about front or back-loading their sales during the month. Typically Volkswagen front-loads and Renault back-loads, and there is no way the German carmaker will stay above Renault by the time November comes to an end. An interesting state of affairs nevertheless.

The locally-produced Toyota Yaris is among France’s 10 most popular nameplates.

In spite of an overall downward trend, Dacia is still up an insolent 30% on the same period last year to 2,020 sales, Toyota is up 3%, Nissan up 10%, Opel up 20% and BMW up 3% to make a rare appearance in the Top 10. Model-wise, the Peugeot 208 for once doesn’t lose ground on a year ago, leading the pack for now but with a very slim 11 unit-advantage over its big sis the Peugeot 308, up a fantastic 86% YOY. Leader last year, the Citroen C3 tumbles down 38% to #3, still ahead of the Renault Clio which outsells the VW Polo by just 22 units! Dacia places the Sandero (-1%) at #7 and the Duster (+165%) at #9 while the Toyota Yaris (+8%) makes a remarkable comeback inside the French Top 10 at #8.

Previous month: France October 2014: Now with the Top 300 models and All-brands

Previous weekly post: France 1-22 October 2014: Citroen C3 up to 2nd place

One year ago: France 1-11 November 2013: Citroen C3 on top

Full 1-12 November 2014 Top 10 models and brands Ranking Tables below.