France September 2022: Peugeot 208 up to 7.2% share, Renault Megane E-Tech in Top 10

The Renault Megane E-Tech is already inside the French Top 10. Picture largus.fr

28/10 update: Now with Top 300 all models.

The French new car market confirms it may have bottomed out with a second straight year-on-year lift in September at +5.5% to 141,142 registrations. However this result is down -18.6% on the last pre-crisis year of 2019 (173,443). The year-to-date tally remains largely in negative at -11.8% to just 1,112,072 units but off 530,000 sales and -32.2% on 2019 (1,641,367), singaling the market is far from having recovered. BEVs are the star of the show this month, eclipsing diesel sales for the first time in French history. As such, the average CO2 emissions for the month reaches an all time low of 98.3g/km, dropping below the 100 mark for the first time vs. a previous best of 101.5 in December 2021.

In the detail, Petrol sales are up 2.4% to 52,179 and 37% vs. 38.1% in September 2021. Year-to-date, petrol drops -19.9% over the first 9 months of the year to 418,514 and 37.6% share vs. 41.4% over the same period a year ago. Diesel slumps -13.7% to 20,317 and 14.4% share vs. 17.6% a year ago, and is off -34.1% year-to-date to 182,312 and 16.4% share vs. 21.9% last year. Hybrid sales gain 17.2% year-on-year to 29,539 and 20.9% share vs. 18.8% in September 2021. They are up 9.6% year-to-date to 237,962 and 21.4% share vs. 17.2% over the same period in 2021. PHEV edges down -1.5% to 11,618 and 8.2% share vs. 8.8% a year go, and are down -13% YTD to 88,554 and 8% share vs. 8.1%. Finally, BEV soars 32.3% year-on-year in September to 22,483 and 15.9% share vs. 12.7% a year ago, and up 31.8% YTD to 140,965 and 12.7% share vs. just 8.5% over the first 9 months of 2021.

At 7.2%, the Peugeot 208 hits its highest market share since January.

In the brands ranking, Peugeot (+13.4%) slightly outpaces the market to hold a 16.7% share, just above the 16.5% it commands YTD. Renault (-8.6%) is in difficulty but at 15.8% it equals its YTD level. Note end of quarters are traditionally strong months for Renault but it is not the case this time. Citroen (-10.1%) fares even worse but manages to salvage its third place, a mere 300 units below Dacia (+2.6%). Toyota (+60.6%) delivers the largest gain in the Top 10 and overtakes Volkswagen (+7%) to #5 in the YTD order as a result. Mercedes (+55%) and Ford (+35.5%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10. Kia (+1.5%) can’t catch up with the market but is up two spots on August to #9, while Audi (-8.3%) struggles at #10. Skoda (+63.1%) and Mini (+40.3%) are the best performers of ranks 11 to 20, while further down and in order of sales Cupra (+251.4%) outsells Seat (-55.1%) for the first time in French history by almost 2:1, MG (+353.3%), Alfa Romeo (+149%), Lynk & Co (+393.6%) and Jaguar (+140.9%) take off.

Model-wise, the Peugeot 208 (+47.2%) sails off in the distance with a superb year-on-year gain leading it to 7.2% share, its highest since last January (7.4%). Strikingly, the rest of the Top 6 is all in negative, going against the market. The Renault Clio (-10.2%) returns to the #2 spot it holds year-to-date after a dreadful summer (#8 in July and #5 in August). It distances the Dacia Sandero (-12.1%) and Peugeot 2008 (-7.1%) both camping on their August ranking. The Citroen C3 (-17.2%) drops three spots on August to #5 while the Renault Captur (-39.5%) is up five to #6 but registers the worst year-on-year evolution in the Top 35 (!) even though it also ranked #6 a year ago in September 2021. The Toyota Yaris  (+49.5%) continues to benefit from the new generation effect at #7 with the Peugeot 308 III staying at #8. The event of the month is the arrival inside the Top 10 of the Renault Megane E-Tech up four ranks on last month to #9. The Dacia Duster (+2.5%) closes the Top 10 but underperforms. Below, notice the Citroen C5 Aircross (+66.5%) and Renault Twingo (+46.1%) making waves.

Previous month: France August 2022: Market up 3.8%, Toyota breaks record share, Citroen C3 teases Peugeot 208 for #1

One year ago: France September 2021: Market dives -20.5%, Renault Arkana breaks into Top 10, Dacia Spring up to #15

Full September 2022 Top 60 all-brands and Top 300 all models below.