France September 2026: Tesla Model Y, Renault 5, Twingo lift EV sales up 108.1% to record 41.7% share
The Twingo E-Tech is shaping up to be another neo-retro smash hit for Renault.
It’s another satisfying month for new car sales in France, now up 11.6% year-on-year in September to 156,629 units. This way, the year-to-date tally is up 4.1% to 1,234,952. Enthusiasm needs to be contained however as 2025 was the worst in 50 years in France. Hurt by extravagant prices, petrol sales sink -39.2% to 16,389 and 10.5% share vs. 19.2% a year ago and 25.9% in September 2024. Diesel sales implode -61.8% to just 2,412 and 1.5% share vs. 4.5% last year and 5.8% in 2024, HEVs drop -7.8% to 57,248 and 36.6% share vs. 44.2% a year ago and 38.2% in 2024 and PHEVs gain 10.8% to 10,101 and 6.5% share, unchained on September 2025 and vs. 7.3% in 2024. Finally the event of the month is once again the EV surge. New electric vehicles found 65,243 buyers in France in September, up an extravagant 108.1% year-on-year for a record 41.7% share vs. 22.3% a year ago which was a record at the time. Year-to-date EV sales are up 78.8% to 387,345 and 31.4% share vs. 18.3% at the same stage a year ago.
The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in France for the second month running.
Looking at the brands ranking, Renault (+22.4%) posts a splendid score to 18.4% share vs. 17.2% year-to-date, helped by a wave of successful neo-retro EVs as we’ll see further down. Peugeot (+1.5%) fares much worse at #2 with just 12.2% share vs. 13.1% so far this year. Citroen (+21.2%) is also in excellent shape and reclaims the third spot overall off Dacia (-14.4%) in great difficulty. Tesla (+61.9%) is the best performer in the Top 10 and climbs two spots on July to a record 5th place with over 9.000 sales and 5.8% share. This is a new ranking record for the American carmaker (previous best #6 in March and December 2023) but not a volume record (9,572 in December 2023) nor a share record (6.1% in November 2023). As a result Toyota (-4.6%) and Volkswagen (-10.3%) are pushed down to #6 and #7 respectively. Meanwhile BYD is estimated to grow 270% YoY to a record #11 also reached last June with Kia (+62.2%) and Fiat (+52.1%) also very healthy. Newcomer Jaecoo continues to progress, up to #18 with 1.6% share.
The Renault 5 sees its sales double year-on-year in September.
Over in the models charts, the Tesla Model Y (+68.9%) manages the huge feat of repeating at #1 for the month with an improved 5.2% share. It distances the Peugeot 208 (+15.8%) at 5% and the Citroen C3 (+27.1%) at 4%. The Renault Clio VI, almost one year after appearing on French roads, is still way off its expected level at #4 with 3.6% share, its best performance so far being 4% last March and having not managed better than #3 (in March, April and June). It’s a surprise as I spotted many of them in the streets during my 2.5 months stay in the country. Adding 5th generation volumes would place the Clio nameplate at a paltry #3 with 4% share. The Renault 5 (+105.9%) continues to impress in 5th place while the Dacia Sandero (+2.2%) falls to #6. The second event of the month is the record 7th place of the Renault Twingo IV with 3.2% share, only 236 sales below the 5 and shaping up to be yet another EV success for the French carmaker. The Renault Scenic V (+92.5%) lodges a third straight Top 10 finish at #10 while the new Jaecoo J5 breaks into the Top 25 at #25 (+6) and the Jaecoo 7 is up to #34 (+6).
Complete brands and models data will be uploaded to this article when made available to us.
Previous month: France August 2026: BEVs up to record 38.3% share, Tesla Model Y overall best-seller
One year ago: France September 2025: BEVs at 22.3% share, Renault 4 (finally) into Top 50
Full September 2026 Top 25 brands and Top 50 models below.
France September 2026 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | Sep-26 | % | /25 | Aug | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Renault | 28,844 | 18.4% | + 22.4% | 1 | 212,512 | 17.2% | + 3.3% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Peugeot | 19,153 | 12.2% | + 1.5% | 2 | 161,294 | 13.1% | – 5.2% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Citroen | 11,897 | 7.6% | + 21.2% | 4 | 93,926 | 7.6% | + 9.5% | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Dacia | 10,398 | 6.6% | – 14.4% | 3 | 96,404 | 7.8% | – 10.8% | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Tesla | 9,038 | 5.8% | + 61.9% | 7 | 45,199 | 3.7% | + 124.4% | 7 | 18 |
| 6 | Toyota | 8,166 | 5.2% | – 4.6% | 5 | 77,060 | 6.2% | – 4.7% | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Volkswagen | 8,052 | 5.1% | – 10.3% | 6 | 76,178 | 6.2% | – 3.3% | 6 | 5 |
| 8 | Skoda | 4,974 | 3.2% | + 7.5% | 8 | 39,345 | 3.2% | + 9.3% | 9 | 8 |
| 9 | BMW | 4,548 | 2.9% | + 7.6% | 9 | 42,103 | 3.4% | – 1.5% | 8 | 7 |
| 10 | Mercedes | 4,134 | 2.6% | – 4.9% | 11 | 30,039 | 2.4% | – 1.0% | 11 | 11 |
| 11 | BYD (est) | 3,848 | 2.5% | + 270.0% | 13 | 22,542 | 1.8% | + 155.6% | 18 | 24 |
| 12 | Kia | 3,574 | 2.3% | + 62.2% | 10 | 25,955 | 2.1% | + 6.9% | 13 | 13 |
| 13 | Audi | 3,563 | 2.3% | – 19.7% | 15 | 32,936 | 2.7% | – 1.6% | 10 | 9 |
| 14 | MG (est) | 3,415 | 2.2% | – 8.0% | 14 | 25,170 | 2.0% | + 20.9% | 15 | 14 |
| 15 | Hyundai | 3,301 | 2.1% | + 1.9% | 16 | 26,886 | 2.2% | – 14.6% | 12 | 10 |
| 16 | Fiat | 2,767 | 1.8% | + 52.1% | 12 | 24,137 | 2.0% | + 67.9% | 16 | 20 |
| 17 | Ford | 2,733 | 1.7% | – 10.9% | 18 | 23,066 | 1.9% | – 18.5% | 17 | 12 |
| 18 | Jaecoo | 2,575 | 1.6% | new | 20 | 9,618 | 0.8% | new | 24 | 62 |
| 19 | Opel | 2,282 | 1.5% | – 19.9% | 17 | 25,689 | 2.1% | + 1.5% | 14 | 15 |
| 20 | Mini | 2,196 | 1.4% | – 24.8% | 19 | 18,513 | 1.5% | – 0.1% | 19 | 17 |
| 21 | Nissan | 1,869 | 1.2% | – 6.3% | 21 | 18,312 | 1.5% | – 5.9% | 20 | 16 |
| 22 | Suzuki | 1,792 | 1.1% | + 0.3% | 23 | 14,134 | 1.1% | – 2.9% | 22 | 21 |
| 23 | Volvo | 1,466 | 0.9% | + 26.4% | 27 | 8,913 | 0.7% | + 15.9% | 26 | 25 |
| 24 | Cupra | 1,442 | 0.9% | – 23.2% | 22 | 14,485 | 1.2% | – 9.9% | 21 | 19 |
| 25 | DS | 941 | 0.6% | – 28.2% | 25 | 9,695 | 0.8% | – 12.9% | 23 | 23 |
France September 2026 – models:
| Pos | Model | Sep-26 | % | /25 | Aug | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Tesla Model Y | 8,183 | 5.2% | + 68.9% | 1 | 37,841 | 3.1% | + 141.5% | 5 | 15 |
| 2 | Peugeot 208 | 7,860 | 5.0% | + 15.8% | 2 | 56,515 | 4.6% | + 3.7% | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Citroen C3 | 6,227 | 4.0% | + 27.1% | 3 | 42,374 | 3.4% | + 1.0% | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Renault Clio VI | 5,618 | 3.6% | new | 6 | 38,693 | 3.1% | new | 4 | 141 |
| 5 | Renault 5 | 5,224 | 3.3% | + 105.9% | 7 | 31,996 | 2.6% | + 47.2% | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | Dacia Sandero | 5,212 | 3.3% | + 2.2% | 4 | 46,489 | 3.8% | – 5.6% | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Renault Twingo IV | 4,988 | 3.2% | new | 12 | 14,479 | 1.2% | new | 19 | 344 |
| 8 | Peugeot 2008 | 4,191 | 2.7% | + 21.2% | 5 | 37,699 | 3.1% | – 8.1% | 6 | 5 |
| 9 | Peugeot 3008 | 3,184 | 2.0% | – 6.7% | 8 | 26,506 | 2.1% | – 14.6% | 8 | 6 |
| 10 | Renault Scenic V | 2,738 | 1.7% | + 92.5% | 10 | 20,522 | 1.7% | + 89.1% | 15 | 22 |
| 11 | Dacia Duster III | 2,625 | 1.7% | – 17.1% | 11 | 22,432 | 1.8% | – 25.4% | 10 | 9 |
| 12 | Citroen C3 Aircross II | 2,571 | 1.6% | + 36.7% | 13 | 22,917 | 1.9% | + 121.6% | 9 | 18 |
| 13 | Renault Captur | 2,370 | 1.5% | – 27.0% | 30 | 22,123 | 1.8% | – 22.6% | 11 | 8 |
| 14 | Toyota Yaris | 2,338 | 1.5% | – 14.0% | 9 | 21,895 | 1.8% | – 6.3% | 12 | 10 |
| 15 | Renault Symbioz | 2,214 | 1.4% | – 8.9% | 24 | 19,600 | 1.6% | – 17.2% | 17 | 12 |
| 16 | Toyota Yaris Cross | 2,170 | 1.4% | – 1.3% | 16 | 21,464 | 1.7% | – 11.8% | 14 | 11 |
| 17 | Citroen C5 Aircross II | 2,029 | 1.3% | + 292.5% | 26 | 15,711 | 1.3% | + 1795.2% | 18 | 99 |
| 18 | Peugeot 308 | 1,909 | 1.2% | – 38.1% | 17 | 19,822 | 1.6% | – 14.5% | 16 | 13 |
| 19 | Renault Austral | 1,567 | 1.0% | + 6.9% | 49 | 12,450 | 1.0% | – 14.6% | 24 | 16 |
| 20 | Hyundai Kona | 1,546 | 1.0% | + 88.3% | 23 | 10,752 | 0.9% | + 18.6% | 27 | 37 |
| 21 | VW Polo | 1,473 | 0.9% | – 27.5% | 35 | 14,384 | 1.2% | – 11.2% | 20 | 14 |
| 22 | Skoda Elroq | 1,457 | 0.9% | + 52.7% | 14 | 10,319 | 0.8% | + 114.4% | 30 | 58 |
| 23 | Peugeot 5008 III | 1,428 | 0.9% | + 5.2% | 21 | 13,967 | 1.1% | + 3.5% | 21 | 17 |
| 24 | VW ID.4 | 1,414 | 0.9% | + 135.3% | 15 | 10,472 | 0.8% | + 169.1% | 29 | 72 |
| 25 | Jaecoo 5 | 1,408 | 0.9% | new | 31 | 4,832 | 0.4% | new | 71 | – |
| 26 | BYD Atto 2 | 1,339 | 0.9% | + 2025.4% | 41 | 7,448 | 0.6% | + 1551.4% | 47 | 200 |
| 27 | Ford Puma | 1,256 | 0.8% | – 12.0% | 48 | 9,571 | 0.8% | – 22.3% | 34 | 19 |
| 28 | Renault Megane E-Tech | 1,254 | 0.8% | + 81.0% | 20 | 10,552 | 0.9% | + 82.7% | 28 | 50 |
| 29 | Kia EV2 | 1,252 | 0.8% | new | 28 | 3,931 | 0.3% | new | 86 | – |
| 30 | VW T-Roc II | 1,205 | 0.8% | new | 33 | 12,493 | 1.0% | new | 23 | 159 |
| 31 | Dacia Bigster | 1,198 | 0.8% | – 40.7% | 25 | 12,634 | 1.0% | + 12.8% | 22 | 21 |
| 32 | Mini Hatch | 1,185 | 0.8% | – 11.8% | 19 | 9,632 | 0.8% | + 2.3% | 33 | 35 |
| 33 | Renault 4 | 1,180 | 0.8% | + 27.3% | 63 | 7,984 | 0.6% | + 187.1% | 38 | 64 |
| 34 | Jaecoo 7 | 1,167 | 0.7% | new | 40 | 4,786 | 0.4% | new | 72 | 373 |
| 35 | Suzuki Swift | 1,079 | 0.7% | + 3.2% | 53 | 8,343 | 0.7% | – 12.2% | 37 | 36 |
| 36 | Mercedes CLA | 1,036 | 0.7% | + 179.2% | 62 | 6,512 | 0.5% | + 233.6% | 51 | 112 |
| 37 | BMW X1 | 1,023 | 0.7% | + 126.3% | 51 | 8,448 | 0.7% | + 7.6% | 36 | 40 |
| 38 | Toyota C-HR II | 1,010 | 0.6% | – 19.3% | 18 | 12,320 | 1.0% | + 15.9% | 25 | 29 |
| 39 | Kia EV4 | 953 | 0.6% | + 337.2% | 39 | 5,721 | 0.5% | + 2524.3% | 61 | 202 |
| 40 | MG 3 | 949 | 0.6% | – 13.9% | 50 | 7,479 | 0.6% | + 11.6% | 45 | 42 |
| 41 | Dacia Jogger | 917 | 0.6% | – 12.1% | 42 | 8,809 | 0.7% | – 24.8% | 35 | 28 |
| 42 | Mercedes GLC | 897 | 0.6% | + 49.3% | 45 | 4,171 | 0.3% | + 25.0% | 85 | 77 |
| 43 | Fiat Grande Panda | 890 | 0.6% | – 1.2% | 47 | 6,135 | 0.5% | + 115.4% | 57 | 83 |
| 44 | Opel Corsa | 870 | 0.6% | – 15.8% | 27 | 11,120 | 0.9% | – 11.1% | 26 | 26 |
| 45 | Tesla Model 3 | 855 | 0.5% | + 15.9% | 67 | 7,278 | 0.6% | + 65.6% | 48 | 73 |
| 46 | Ford Kuga | 828 | 0.5% | – 17.9% | 66 | 6,484 | 0.5% | – 28.6% | 52 | 38 |
| 47 | Nissan Qashqai | 827 | 0.5% | – 24.0% | 58 | 9,643 | 0.8% | + 6.8% | 32 | 30 |
| 48 | Skoda Fabia | 805 | 0.5% | – 19.9% | 44 | 7,642 | 0.6% | – 12.5% | 42 | 41 |
| 49 | VW Tiguan III | 804 | 0.5% | – 35.5% | 55 | 7,484 | 0.6% | – 33.4% | 44 | 24 |
| 50 | VW Golf | 800 | 0.5% | – 18.3% | 34 | 7,811 | 0.6% | – 11.3% | 40 | 32 |
Source: PFA
