France March 2021: Peugeot scores 7th win in past 8 months, Tesla Model 3 signs first Top 10, market down -19.1% on two years ago

The Peugeot 208 II secures an 8th win in the past 9 months at home.

16/04 update: Now with final figures for the Top 280 All-models.

7/04 update: Now with Top 10 EVs.

The French new car market is up 191.7% year-on-year in March to 182.775 sales as year-ago volumes were impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown. A more telling comparison set is March 2019 and this time sales are down -19.1% over the 225.818 units registered two years ago. Year-to-date, French sales are up 21.1% on 2020 to 441.792 but down -20.2% on the same period in 2019. Peugeot (+185.7% year-on-year and -12.8% on two years ago) manages a fantastic 7th win in the past 8 months, particularly notable as this is an end-of-quarter month when Renault (+107.6% and -34.6%) traditionally fills up with tactical sales. Not so much this year as Renault attempts to stir away from this practice and drops to 16.4% share vs. 23.1% a year ago in March 2020. Citroen (+255.7% and -19%) is above the market rates to improve its share to 10.5% while Volkswagen (+281.5% and -28.2%) climbs back up two spots on last month to #4 above Dacia (+211.4% and -38.9%) and Toyota (+168.1% and +15.4%) particularly strong vs. two years ago. Mercedes (+260.7% and +1.4%) also manages be up vs. two years ago at #7 overall, with Audi (+310% and -3.2%), BMW (+241.8% and +8.7%) and Tesla (+186.5% and +262.2%) also very strong, the latter slicing its February ranking in two to land at #11 overall.

First French Top 10 finish for the Tesla Model 3.

Over in the models ranking, the Peugeot 208 II (+185.7%) signs an 8th win in the past 9 months but trails the market slightly, as does the Renault Clio V (+180.4%) back up 3 spots on February to 2nd place overall both for the month and YTD. The Peugeot 2008 II (+394.4%) drops one rank to #3 ahead of the Citroen C3 (+332.4%), both nameplates gaining significant share year-on-year. It’s not the case of the Renault Captur II (+153.1%) and Peugeot 3008 (+174.8%) just below. The Renault Twingo (+247.7%) leaps up three spots on last month to #7. #2 in January, the Dacia Sandero III drops to #8 this month. The best-selling foreign model is not the Toyota Yaris (+162.9%) down to #11 but the Tesla Model 3 (+226.6%) up 22 spots on last month to a fantastic 9th place overall, its first ever incursion in the French Top 10. The Fiat 500 (#16), VW Polo (#17), Ford Puma (#19) and VW T-Roc (#20) also manage to slide inside the Top 20 for the month. In the EV ranking, below the Tesla Model 3 we find the Peugeot e-208, Renault Zoe, Twingo ZE and Fiat 500 EV.

Previous month: France February 2021: Dacia (+25.8%), Toyota (-5.4%) headline market accelerating its fall at -20.9%

One year ago: France March 2020: COVID-19 sends market down -72.2% to lowest March volume in over 60 years, Tesla in Top 10

Full March 2021 Top 52 All-brands, Top 280 All-models and Top 10 EVs below.