2015 (Q3) France: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers, Brands and Models

Peugeot Quartz at the Geneva Auto Show 2015PSA was the strongest carmaker in France during the first three quarters of 2015 with Renault the top-selling brand and the Clio the best-selling model. New passenger vehicle registrations in France increased by 6.3% during the first nine months of 2015. French car manufacturers and brands lost market share while German luxury brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW experienced strong growth.

The French New Car Market in 2015 (Q3)

New passenger vehicle registrations in France increased during the first nine months of 2015 by 6.3% to 1,421,440 cars.

French car manufacturers underperformed the market and with sales increasing by only 3.4% to 776,360 cars, market share slipped from 56.13% to 54,62%. Sales by foreign car brands increased by a stronger 9.9%.

Best-Selling Carmakers and Brands in France in 2015 (Q3)

New passenger vehicle registrations by manufacturing group and marque in France during the first nine months of 2015 were as follows according to car sales statistics released by the CCFA:

Q1-3/2015 Q1-3/2015 Q1-3/2014 Market Share % Change
Total Market 1,421,440 1,337,315 100.00 6.3
French 776,360 750,605 54.62 3.4
Imported 645,080 586,710 45.38 9.9
Manufacturers:
PSA Group 420,747 403,670 29.60 4.2
Peugeot 246,454 227,915 17.34 8.1
Citroen 151,732 150,420 10.67 0.9
DS 22,561 25,335 1.59 -10.9
RENAULT Group 354,795 346,005 24.96 2.5
Renault 280,148 266,871 19.71 5.0
Dacia 74,647 79,134 5.25 -5.7
VW Group 183,174 173,563 12.89 5.5
Volkswagen 108,759 102,296 7.65 6.3
Audi 42,938 41,031 3.02 4.6
Skoda 15,754 14,993 1.11 5.1
Seat 15,634 15,179 1.10 3.0
FORD Group 61,436 56,569 4.32 8.6
NISSAN Group 57,336 50,942 4.03 12.6
TOYOTA Group 56,021 51,486 3.94 8.8
BMW Group 54,544 45,412 3.84 20.1
BMW 38,306 33,061 2.69 15.9
Mini 16,232 12,340 1.14 31.5
FIAT Group 53,080 46,680 3.73 13.7
Fiat 40,205 34,114 2.83 17.9
Jeep 6,388 1,214 0.45 426.0
Alfa Romeo 4,625 5,708 0.33 -19.0
Lancia 1,313 5,159 0.09 -74.5
GM Group 48,295 50,422 3.40 -4.2
Opel 48,184 46,418 3.39 3.8
Chevrolet 96 3,998 0.01 -97.6
MERCEDES Group 43,333 37,669 3.05 15.0
Mercedes-Benz 38,027 34,839 2.68 9.2
Smart 5,306 2,830 0.37 87.5
HYUNDAI Group 38,665 32,591 2.72 18.6
Kia 21,670 21,069 1.52 2.9
Hyundai 16,995 11,522 1.20 47.5

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in France in 2015 (Q1)

French car manufacturing groups PSA and Renault continued to dominate the French new vehicle market during the first nine months of 2015 with a combined market share of 55%. However, with the exception of Peugeot, all French car brands underperformed the broader market. PSA’s new luxury marque DS continued to struggle as an independent brand while Renault’s budget brand Dacia also sold fewer cars due to an aging model range. Only five car bands failed to increase sales volume during the first nine months of 2015.

All brands in the Volkswagen Group increased sales but underperformed the broader market. Volkswagen-branded car sales increased in line with the market but Audi, Skoda and Seat all slightly underperformed. Skoda overtook Seat as the third strongest brand of the Volkswagen Group in France. Despite strong growth by BMW and Mercedes, Audi remained the top-selling premium German car brand in France.

All other foreign car-manufacturing groups, with the exception of GM, outperformed the broader market in France during the first nine months of 2015. Ford maintained its fourth position while Nissan moved ahead of Toyota with a strong performance.

BMW was the most-improved car manufacturer in France during the first three quarters of 2015 with group sales up by a fifth allowing BMW to move ahead of both Fiat and GM. Sales of Mini cars were up by nearly a third while BMW-branded car sales increased by 16%.

The Fiat Group also moved ahead of GM with a strong performance by its main Fiat brand. The Jeep brand was the most-improved brand in France thus far in 2015 but its impressive performance was mainly due to a shakeup in the group’s branding. It was balanced by Alfa Romeo and Lancia being two of only five brands with lower sales in France in 2015.

The GM Group was the only manufacturer in France with lower car sales during the first nine months of 2015 compared to a year ago. Sales of Opel increased but below market average and not sufficient to make up for the decline in sales due to Chevrolet’s withdrawal from the European market.

The Mercedes-Benz Group enjoyed strong sales growth in France during the first three quarters of 2015. Mercedes-Benz car sales increased by 9.9%. However, Smart was the best-performing brand in France (apart from Jeep) with sales up by 88%

The Hyundai Group enjoyed strong sales in France thus far in 2015. Kia sales underperformed but sales of Hyundai branded cars increased by a strong 48%.

Best-Selling Car Brands in France in 2015 (Q3)

The top 10 best-selling car marques in France in 2015 (Q1-Q3) according to the CCFA were as follows:

Q1-3/15 Q1/2015 Q1-3/2015 Q1-3/2014
1 Renault 280,148 266,871
2 Peugeot 246,454 227,915
3 Citroen 151,732 150,420
4 Volkswagen 108,759 102,296
5 Dacia 74,647 79,134
6 Ford 61,436 56,569
7 Nissan 57,336 50,942
8 Toytota 56,021 51,486
9 Opel 48,184 46,418
10 Audi 42,938 41,031

The only change in relative rank positions amongst the top-ten car marques in France was that Nissan and Toyota swapped places from a year ago.

Best-Selling Car Models in France in 2015 (Q3)

The ten top-selling car models in France during the first nine months of 2015 were as follows according to the CCFA:

Q1-3 / 2015 Make & Model Q1-3 /2015 % Market Share Q1-3 /2014
1 Renault Clio IV 81,099 5.7 78,062
2 Peugeot 208 66,944 4.7 63,011
3 Peugeot 308 II 57,005 4 43,219
4 Renault Captur 53,840 3.8 46,351
5 Peugeot 2008 46,966 3.3 39,789
6 Citroën C3 II 42,291 3 44,186
7 Renault Scénic III 35,624 2.5 37,800
8 Dacia Sandero 34,703 2.4 34,840
9 Renault Twingo III 34,291 2.4
10 Citroën C4 II Picasso 34,280 2.4

Top-Ten List of Best-Selling Car Models in France

There were only minor changes in the composition of the list of the favorite car models of the French. The Renault Clio and Peugeot 208 remained the favorite cars of the French with market shares identical to the same three quarters in 2014.

The Peugeot 308 II moved up from fifth to third, which was as expected as the 2014 figures were distorted by the 308 and 308 II being listed separately.

The Renault Captur slipped one position despite increasing volumes and gaining 0.3% market share. The Peugeot 2008 gained similar market share and improved from sixth a year ago. Each model increased sales by over 7,000 cars.

The Citroen C3 II slipped two places from last year while the Renault Scenic III maintained its seventh place. Both models each lost 0.3% in market share. Sales of the Dacia Sandero were similarly weaker but the budget-brand Renault gained one rank position.

New on the top-ten list of best-selling car models in France was a return of the Renault Twingo in its third model version and the Citroen C4 II Picasso. The two models dropping off the list were the Citroën C4 II from 8th to 19th and the Renault Mégane III from 10th to 12th.

The favorite imported car models of the French were the Volkswagen Polo at 11th and the VW Golf at 15th. The top-selling Japanese car in France was the Toyota Yaris (16th), the best-selling Italian car the Fiat 500 (21st) and the favorite Korean car the Kia Sportage (62nd).

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.