2013 (Q3) France: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

Renault, Peugeot and Citroen were the top-selling car brands in France during the first nine months of 2013. Clio was the favorite car model of the French.

Renault Clio RS

Car sales in France continued to slide during the third quarter of 2013 but at a slower pace than earlier in 2013. During the first nine months of 2013, new passenger vehicle registrations in France declined by 8.5%. PSA remained the strongest car-manufacturing group in France while Renault was the best-selling car brand. Volkswagen was the top car importer. The Renault Clio was the top-selling car model thus far in 2013 in France.

The French New Car Market in 2013 (Q3)

New passenger vehicle registrations in France declined by 8.5% during the first nine months of 2013 to 1,309,858 cars. The French car market was slightly positive in September and July making the third quarter less weak compared to mid-year when the market was down by 11.3%

The pain was equally shared between imported and domestic car manufacturers. Imported cars took 46.5% of the French car market during the first nine months of 2013.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands in France in 2013 (Q3)

Car sales statistics for January to September 2013 released by the CCFA show the following as the top-selling car manufacturing groups and marques in France:

January to September (Q1-3)
   2013 % Change 2012 2011
Total Market  1,309,858 -8.5 1,430,832 1,661,271
French  701,249 -8.5 766,074 944,316
Imported  608,609 -8.5 664,758 716,955
Manufacturers:
PSA  385,809 -12 438,232 537,345
Peugeot  212,047 -9.4 234,027 288,797
Citroen  173,762 -14.9 204,205 248,548
RENAULT Group  314,893 -3.5 326,152 406,821
Renault  249,602 -6 265,339 344,302
Dacia  65,291 7.3 60,813 62,519
VW Group  175,732 -10.6 196,467 205,324
Volkswagen  102,943 -11.6 116,373 121,089
Audi  42,787 -6 45,466 43,682
Seat  16,378 -9.6 18,107 25,136
Skoda  13,556 -16.1 16,136 15,043
GM Group  61,580 -18.1 75,097 92,061
Opel  45,108 -19 55,613 74,200
Chevrolet  16,464 -15.5 19,468 17,814
FORD  56,615 -20.1 70,865 86,865
TOYOTA Group  53,269 6.8 49,867 51,335
NISSAN Group  47,969 -9.9 53,155 52,145
BMW Group  45,850 -6.2 48,898 48,525
BMW  32,478 -3 33,478 33,064
Mini  13,361 -13.3 15,402 15,444
FIAT Group  45,355 2.2 44,312 60,409
Fiat  35,541 10.9 32,002 45,030
HYUNDAI Group  44,451 0.3 44,303 34,284
Kia  24,408 1.4 24,057 19,670
Hyundai  20,043 -1 20,246 14,614
MERCEDES_Group  37,272 0 37,261 36,404
Mercedes-Benz  33,579 0.6 33,377 31,741

Source: CCFA
Figures exclude “others”

Top-Selling Car Marques in France in 2013 (Q3)

The PSA Group remained the strongest car manufacturer in France during the first nine months of 2013 despite strongly underperforming the broader market. Both Peugeot and Citroen saw much weaker sales.

Renault saw a decline in sales but outperformed the broader market. Renault’s budget brand Dacia saw strong growth with the Dacia Sandero being the sixth most popular car in France thus far in 2013.

The Volkswagen Group easily remained the strongest car importer into France despite weak sales. The Volkswagen brand itself suffered double-digit losses. GM and Ford maintained their relative positions despite loosing around another fifth of sales.

Apart from Dacia, Toyota was the only top brand to have seen sales growth in the French car market during the first three quarters of 2013. A weak performance by Nissan saw the Japanese carmaker slipped a position below Toyota.

The BMW Group narrowly outperformed the overall market although BMW-branded cars sold only marginally fewer cars than a year ago.

A strong performance by Fiat boosted the Fiat Group into positive territory despite most brands in the group declining by a fifth.

Car sales by South Korean manufacturers were flat with a slight increase by Kia outbalanced by a slight decline by Hyundai.

Mercedes sales were flat but Mercedes-Benz cars actually saw unit sales increase from a year ago despite a legal battle with the French authorities that saw many new Mercedes-Benz car owners unable to register their cars.

Top-Selling Car Models in France in 2013 (Q3)

The top ten best-selling car models in France during the first nine months of 2013 according to CCFA were:

Rank Make & Model Q3/2013 % Market Share
1 Renault Clio IV 77428 5.9
2 Peugeot 208 69446 5.3
3 Renault Scénic III 38114 2.9
4 Renault Mégane III 34473 2.6
5 Citroën C3 II 34202 2.6
6 Dacia Sandero 30181 2.3
7 Peugeot 3008 29338 2.2
8 Renault Twingo II 28935 2.2
9 Citroën C4 II 28140 2.1
10 Volkswagen Polo 27387 2.1

Source: CCFA / AAA Data

The Renault Clio has been the top-selling car model in France for all of 2013. During the first nine months of 2012, the Clio was the second most-popular car in France.

Compared to the first three quarters of 2013, the Mégane slipped from first to fourth and the Citroen C3 from third to fifth. The Peugeot 208 improved from sixth to second while the Scenic was not on the top ten list a year ago.

The Dacia Sandero also entered the top-ten list this year and is now the sixth most popular car in France. During Q1 and at half year, the Sandero was only tenth popular.

The Volkswagen Polo was the most popular imported car in France during the first nine months of 2013. Two cars to watch are the VW Golf VII (11 th) and Renault Captur (12th) – both new models that missed out on sales at the start of 2013.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.