France February 2026: Citroen C3 best-seller, Renault Clio VI back outside Top 10

The Citroen C3 is the most popular vehicle in France in February.

17/03 update: Now with Top 50 All brands and Top 300 models.

It’s another horrendous month for new car registrations in France, with February off -14.7% year-on-year to just 120,764 units. The year-to-date tally is now off -11.1% to 227,921. Keep in mind 2025 was the weakest year since 1975, so we are entering even worse territory now. Petrol sales sink -48.1% to 18,206 and 15.1% share vs. 24.8% share a year ago and diesel crashes -53.8% to 3,098 and 2.6% share vs. 4.7^ in February 2025. HEVs drop -16.2% to 52,069 and 43.1% share vs. 43.9% last year, PHEVs edge up 3.2% to 6,655 and 5.5% share vs. 4.6% a year ago. Finally BEVs surge 27.8% to 32,371 and 26.8% share vs. 17.9% in February 2025. Year-to-date, petrol drops -48.5% to 33,532 and 14.7% share vs. 25.4% over the same period in 2025, diesel is off -51.8% to 5,619 and 2.5% share vs. 4.6%, HEVs edge down -4.9% to 108,061 and 47.4% share vs. 44.3%, PHEVs step up 1.5% to 11,476 and 5% share vs. 4.4% and BEVs surge 38.5% to 62,679 and 27.5% share vs. 17.7% over the first 2 months of 2025. 

Best result since last September for the Tesla Model Y.

Renault (-16.5%) and Peugeot (-20.7%) both disappoint and fall faster than the market to 16.9% and 14.7% share respectively. For once Citroen (+0.9%) braves the negative context and stays in third place with 9.7% share. Even though it rallies back up two spots on January, Dacia (-36.3%) remains in hell year-on-year with just 6.8% share vs. 9.1% a year ago in February 2025. This situation is uncharacteristic for the low cost brand and is starting to be a little worrying. Volkswagen (-21%) stays at #5 while Toyota (-19%) is down two ranks to #6. BMW (-27.2%) is up three spots on January to #7 but struggles year-on-year, while Skoda (+5.9%) is strong once again at #8. The winners of the month are Tesla (+55.1%) up 16 ranks on last month to #9 with 3.1% share, the carmaker’s best result since last September, Opel (+51.1%) and Fiat (+60.6%). Further down, MG gains 9.6% at #17 and BYD grows by 62.1% at #22. 

The new generation Citroen C5 Aircross is up to a record #17.

We have a surprise in the models charts: the Citroen C3 (-25.9%) snaps the pole position despite freefalling year-on-year, with 24% of its February volume coming from the e-C3 BEV. This is the third time the C3 nameplate is #1 in France after October 2019 and January 2025. Note that like in 2019, the C3 benefits from the Clio generation changeover (the Clio nameplate would be #1 this month). The C3  outsells the Peugeot 208 (-29.5%) in even worse shape while the Peugeot 2008 (-20.8%) is up to #3, its best ranking since July 2022. Now discontinued, the Renault Clio V logically drops -55.9% to #4, followed by a crashing Dacia Sandero (-41.3%). In contrast the Tesla Model Y (+74.6%) surges ahead to #7 and 2.5% share and back to the BEV pole position above the Renault 5 (-13%) at #9. Up to #7 in January, the Renault Clio VI falls back to #11 as the “true” sales begin after a public launch in January when demo sales accounted for the large majority of its volume. The new Citroen C5 Aircross II is up to a record #17 whereas the Renault 4 falls 15 ranks to #44.

Previous month: France January 2026: BEV sales up 52.1%, Renault Clio VI in Top 10

One year ago: France February 2025: Renault (+20.4%) reclaims control in stable market

Full February 2026 Top 50 All brands and Top 75 models below.