France October 2014: Peugeot places 3 models in Top 5

November 4, 2014
Matt Gasnier

The Peugeot 2008 outsells the Renault Captur this month at home.

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Just as Europe is slowly but surely waking up from 6 years of torpor, the French market is still stuck in uncertainty: down a very disagreeable 4% year-on-year in October to 160,162 registrations, pulling down the year-to-date total to 1,497,477 units, now up by just 1.4% on 2013. In the brands ranking, only 3 manufacturers manage to gain ground year-on-year in the Top 10: Dacia at #5 (+7%), Nissan at #7 (+15%) and Opel at #9 (+13%). Fiat (+1%) and Mercedes (+1%) are timid but buck the overall market trend, as do Seat (+7%), Hyundai (+6%) and Mini (+2%). Renault remains leader but is one percentage point below its YTD level at 18.8% while Peugeot is one percentage point above at 18%. Citroen is above at 13.9% (-2%) while Volkswagen is below at 7.1% (-6%). BMW (-17%), Toyota (-16%) and Kia (-15%) suffer.

Mini sales buck the overall French trend and gain 2% on October 2013.

Model-wise, the Renault Clio IV leads the Peugeot 208 by over one percentage point of market share both this month (5.6% vs. 4.4%) and year-to-date (5.8% vs. 4.7%) however the Peugeot-Renault fight in the small SUV segment goes to the advantage of Peugeot this time, with the 2008 outselling the Captur for a spot in the overall Top 5 at 5,383 sales and 3.4% vs. 5,272 and 3.3%. The Captur is still ahead year-to-date at #3 and 3,4% vs. #6 and 3% for the 2008. The Citroen C3 climbs back up 4 spots on September to brilliantly round up the podium thanks to 6,593 sales and 4.1% share while the Peugeot 308 remains in 4th place at 4% share like in September.

The Fiat 500 breaks into the French Top 15 for the very first time in October!

The VW Golf VII is the only foreigner in the Top 10 at #10 and one of only 6 among the Top 23 best-sellers in France this month. The Fiat 500 gains a two spots to land at #15 with 2,578 sales 1.6% vs. #20 and 1.2% YTD. This is simply the 500’s best-ever ranking in France since this generation launched back in 2007 – no less! Note this score does not include the 500L and confirms the 500 sales performance gets better with age, an extremely rare feat in the automotive world these days. The Opel Mokka confirms its success as well and remains the brand’s best-seller in France at #24 and 1,706 sales, just above the Corsa.

First Top 40 ranking for the Ford Kuga nameplate in France.

There has been a lot of new launches by French manufacturers in the past few months, and October is a ‘consolidation month’, read their progression has stalled for now. The Renault Twingo III is back down from #8 last month to #20, now that all demo models have hit dealerships, the Citroen C4 Cactus is up one spot to #22 and 1.2% share, the Peugeot 108 is up 4 to #23 and the Citroen C1 II down one to #28. Notice also the Mini III up 10 ranks to #32, the Ford Kuga up 13 to a record #39, the Mercedes C-Class up 4 to #43 and the Hyundai ix35 up 33 to #45.

The Ford Transit 2T is estimated to be among France’s Top 20 best-selling LCVs.

The French Light Commercial Vehicle fares even worse than the Passenger Car one: down 4.5% in October to 32,624 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 305,831 units, now up just 0.8% on 2013. The new generation Renault Master continues to gear up and now threatens the Renault Kangoo for pole position at 3,085 sales and 9.5% vs. 3,315 and 10.2%. A rare event, there are a few new models making their appearance in the ranking this month: the Ford Transit 2T lands at an estimated 20th place with 1.2% share and ranks #27 year-to-date, the Toyota Proace (a rebadged Peugeot Expert) arrives at #28 in October and #75 YTD, the Ford Transit Courier is #80 YTD and the Range Rover Sport #81 YTD.

The Toyota Proace lands at #28 LCV this month.