France May 2024: First market decline in 22 months, Toyota (+31.3%) and Opel (+27.9%) stand out

The Opel Corsa signs its first Top 10 finish since August 2020.

11/06 update: Now with Top 326 All models ranking

In May, the French new car market registers its first year-on-year decline since July 2022 at -2.9% to 141,298 units. This is to be compared to the 193,000 sales of pre-pandemic May 2019. Petrol sales sink -20% to 43,046 units and 31.4% share, overtaken for the first time by HEVs up 40% to 44,396 and 30.7%. PHEVs are off -19.4% to 10,201 and 7.2% share while diesel dives -24.5% to 11,448 and 8.1%. BEVs, despite de demise of Tesla, still grow at +5.4% to 23,887 and 16.9% share. Private sales drop -1.8% to 59,657 and 42.2% share. Among private sales, leases have become the norm. Leases with purchase option are up 15% to 36% of private sales and long term leases soar 42% to 29% share. All in all, leasing corresponds to 65% of private sales in May vs. 50% a year ago in May 2023. Short term rentals gain 2.6% to 22,354 while demo sales are up 1.9% to 16,778.

Renault (+0.4%) is stable to clearly win the brands race with an excellent 18.6% share. Peugeot (-11.8%) is in difficulty at #2 with 13.9% of the market, and sees its gap with Renault increase to 8,500 units over the first five months of the year. Dacia (-15.3%) suffers but stays in 3rd place just above Volkswagen (+5.5%). Toyota (+31.3%) lodges another great performance – the largest gain in the Top 18 – but falls back to #5 vs. #4 year-to-date. Citroen (-9.5%) disappoints again at a low 6th position. The remainder of the Top 10 is entirely in positive, with Opel (+27.9%) being the most dynamic above BMW (+15.8%), Audi (+13.5%) and Ford (+3.2%). As for the bad news, Tesla is off -45.2% to #16 and MG down -65.3% to #25. We welcome Chinese fare Xpeng at #47 with its first 10 French sales.

The Peugeot 3008 III is up to #33.

Model-wise, the Renault Clio (-6.2%) claims its first monthly win of the year despite a year-on-year loss. The Peugeot 208 (+3.1%) is relegated to 2nd place but easily retains the YTD top spot with a 5,600-unit gap. The Dacia Sandero (+4.1%) and Peugeot 2008 (+6.4%) camp on their April ranking at #3 and #4 respectively. The Renault Captur (+13.1%) advances one spot on last month to #5 while the Renault Arkana (-11.2%) surges 7 ranks to #6, the nameplate’s ranking record also reached exactly one year ago in May 2023. The Citroen C3 (-24.9%) and Peugeot 308 (-26.3%) struggle below whereas the Opel Corsa (+65.1%) is the best-selling “foreigner” for the month at #10, overtaking the Toyota Yaris (-3.5%). This is the Corsa’s first incursion inside the French Top 10 since August 2020. The Renault Twingo (+147.4%), Citroen C3 Aircross (+64.2%), VW Golf (+60.3%) and Ford Puma (+28%) all shine below. The Toyota C-HR (+269.9%) is up to #19, its highest ranking since August 2020 (#15). We welcome the Peugeot 3008 III at #33.

The Peugeot 208 (2,662 sales) is the best-selling BEV for the month above the Renault Twingo (1,688) and Renault Megane E-Tech (1,618). The Toyota Yaris (2,539) is the #1 HEV ahead of the Renault Clio (2,229) and Renault Austral (2,124) and the Cupra Formentor (916) is the most popular PHEV above the Mercedes GLC (512) and Citroen C5 Aircross (477).

Previous month: France April 2024: Market up 10.9%, Toyota breaks monthly volume record

One year ago: France May 2023: Renault and Clio in charge again, Arkana up to record #6

Full May 2024 Top 58 All brands and Top 326 All models below.