In 2017, the Renault Clio was again the top-selling car model in France followed by the Peugeot 208. The Peugeot 3008 was the third most popular car model with the French.
The Renault Clio increased its lead as the most-popular car model in France in 2017. The Peugeot 208 maintained its traditional second place with flat sales in a growing market. The new Peugeot 3008 II was very well received by the French and became the top-selling SUV in France in its first full year on the market. The VW Polo remained the top-selling foreign car model in France despite weaker sales while the Toyota Yaris was again the favorite Japanese car model in France in 2017.
The Top 20 Best-Selling Car Models in France in 2017
New passenger vehicle registrations in France in 2017 showed the following 20 cars as the top-selling car models:
| Car Make & Model | Sold 2017 | Sold 2016 | |
| 1 | Renault Clio IV | 117,541 | 112,152 |
| 2 | Peugeot 208 | 97,663 | 97,830 |
| 3 | Peugeot 3008 II | 74,297 | – |
| 4 | Renault Captur | 68,773 | 70,769 |
| 5 | Peugeot 2008 | 67,979 | 65,986 |
| 6 | Citroen C3 II | 67,276 | 51,843 |
| 7 | Peugeot 308 II | 66,163 | 75,509 |
| 8 | Dacia Sandero | 61,481 | 56,199 |
| 9 | Renault Mégane IV | 51,536 | 45,776 |
| 10 | Renault Twingo III | 39,022 | 40,793 |
| 11 | Dacia Duster | 37,042 | 36,428 |
| 12 | Volkswagen Polo | 32,985 | 40,155 |
| 13 | Renault Kadjar | 31,522 | 38,145 |
| 14 | Toyota Yaris | 31,415 | 30,967 |
| 15 | Volkswagen Golf VII | 30,544 | 32,976 |
| 16 | Nissan Qashqai 2 | 26,570 | 24,520 |
| 17 | Renault Scenic IV | 26,537 | 7,201 |
| 18 | Citroen C4 II Picasso | 25,917 | 40,880 |
| 19 | VW Tiguan II | 25,286 | 14,281 |
| 20 | Opel Corsa | 22,951 | 20,377 |
| Souce: CCFA |
Top 10 Favorite Car Models in France in 2017
In 2017, the Renault Clio was again the favorite car model of the French while the Peugeot 208 easily maintained its second best-selling car status.
The Renault Clio IV has been the best-selling car in France since its market introduction in 2012 while the Peugeot 208 has been in second place since its first full year on the French market in 2013.
Remarkably, the sales volume of the Clio continued to increase despite the habit of French buyers to stay clear of aging models. Clio sales increased by another 5,000 units in 2017. In 2013, the French bought 103,172 Clio IV cars.
In contrast, sales of the Peugeot 208 contracted slightly in 2017 although fewer than 200 models below the record level of 2016.
The star car in France in 2017 was the Peugeot 3008 II that entered the top 20 list on its first full year on the market at position 3 with sales volumes nearly three times higher than its predecessor used to sell for. It also showed the popularity of SUVs in France – in the sales rankings, the 3008 replaced the more regular hatchback 308 that slipped from third last year to seventh in 2017 with sales down by almost 10,000 cars.
Despite weaker sales, the Renault Captur remained the fourth most-popular car in France in 2017 while the Peugeot 2008 remained the fifth best-selling car despite stronger sales.
The Citroen C3 moved up one position with much stronger sales while the Peugeot 308 slipped from third to seventh. The Dacia Sandero improved two positions with a strong increase in sales numbers while the Renault Mégane slipped one place despite stronger sales.
The Renault Twingo maintained tenth place despite slightly weaker sales.
Top 20 Favorite Car Models in France in 2017
The Dacia Duster improved two rank positions in 2017 to become the 11th most popular car model in France.
The VW Polo remained the most-popular imported car model in France in 2017. The Polo slipped one position to 12th. Volkswagen sold 4,974 of the Polo IV that was introduced during the final months of the year – sufficient to reach the 100th position on the best-selling car models list in France in 2017. Together, the Polos would have maintained 11th place, although volumes were down on 2016.
The Renault Kadjar slipped one position with sales noticeably weaker. The Toyota Yaris and VW Golf swapped positions with Yaris sales slightly stronger while Golf sales were down. Stronger sales allowed the Nissan Qashqai to improve by two rank positions.
The Renault Scenic IV entered the top-20 list at 17th. It was 75th a year ago when it was only on the market for a few months.
The Citroen C4 II Picasso slipped from 9th a year ago to only 18th with sales sharply down. The Citroen C4 II similarly slipped from 20th to 23rd in 2017.
The VW Tiguan II (up from 33rd) and Opel Corsa (up from 21st) are both new entries on the top-20 list in France in 2017.
The four cars slipping out of the top-20 list from a year ago were the Scenic (16th) and Peugeot 3008 (17th) that were replaced by new models, the C4 down from 20th to 23rd, and the Ford Fiesta. The Ford Fiesta III slipped from 19th to 35th while the new Fiesta IV was in 79th place. Together, the Fiesta would still just have missed out on a top 20 position.
The electric only Renault ZOE was the 30th most-popular car model in France in 2017 with 15,245 cars sold – up from 43rd in 2016 with 11,404 cars sold.
See also: 2017 (Full Year) France: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands for an overview of the French new car market in 2017.
