In full-year 2020, PSA was again the largest carmaker in France with Renault and Peugeot the best-selling car brands.
In the full calendar year 2020, the PSA Group remained the largest car manufacturing group in France. Renault and Peugeot were again the best-selling car brands in France, although Peugeot gained the most market share in 2020. Volkswagen was again the largest foreign car manufacturer in France with VW the top-selling foreign car brand. The Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio remained the best-selling car models in France in 2020. The French new car market in 2020 contracted by over a quarter.
Latest French Car Sales Statistics — 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models; 2022, 2021, 2020.
Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in France in 2020
In 2020 (full calendar year), the top-selling carmakers in France were as follows according to the CCFA:
| Manufacturer | 2020 | % Change | 2019 | 2018 |
| TOTAL MARKET | 1,650,118 | -25.5 | 2,214,279 | 2,173,481 |
| French Brands | 943,222 | -25.0 | 1,257,843 | 1,246,915 |
| PSA GROUP | 530,606 | -25.1 | 708,438 | 698,985 |
| -Citroen | 162,688 | -30.8 | 235,110 | 213,844 |
| -DS | 22,182 | -17.4 | 26,845 | 24,004 |
| -Peugeot | 301,935 | -20.5 | 379,582 | 389,518 |
| -Opel | 43,801 | -34.5 | 66,901 | 71,619 |
| RENAULT GROUP | 412,544 | -24.9 | 549,283 | 547,704 |
| -Renault | 314,630 | -22.7 | 407,134 | 406,222 |
| -Dacia | 97,170 | -30.1 | 138,977 | 140,326 |
| -Alpine | 744 | -76.5 | 3,172 | 1,156 |
| Manufacturer | 2019 | 2018 | ||
| Foreign Brands | 706,896 | -26.1 | 956,436 | 926,566 |
| BMW GROUP | 67,369 | -21.6 | 85,919 | 84,931 |
| -BMW | 45,478 | -22.6 | 58,751 | 57,537 |
| -Mini | 21,881 | -19.4 | 27,158 | 27,378 |
| DAIMLER GROUP | 54,262 | -32.8 | 80,708 | 73,254 |
| -Mercedes Benz | 52,570 | -25.1 | 70,214 | 65,808 |
| -Smart | 1,692 | -83.9 | 10,494 | 7,446 |
| FCA GROUP | 51,248 | -41.5 | 87,566 | 100,356 |
| -Alfa Romeo | 2,372 | -39.8 | 3,937 | 8,332 |
| -Fiat | 42,360 | -40.9 | 71,666 | 78,226 |
| -Jeep | 6,381 | -44.7 | 11,541 | 13,191 |
| FORD | 55,219 | -30.0 | 78,838 | 82,633 |
| HYUNDAI GROUP | 73,637 | -13.4 | 85,026 | 77,855 |
| -Hyundai | 34,585 | -13.5 | 39,970 | 35,542 |
| -Kia | 39,052 | -13.3 | 45,056 | 42,313 |
| NISSAN | 32,964 | -22.5 | 42,313 | 59,606 |
| TOYOTA GROUP | 95,640 | -12.2 | 108,888 | 103,387 |
| -Lexus | 5,913 | -17.4 | 7,158 | 6,101 |
| -Toyota | 89,727 | -11.8 | 101,730 | 97,286 |
| VOLKSWAGEN GROUP | 204,731 | -28.4 | 286,096 | 259,268 |
| -Audi | 45,360 | -21.2 | 57,533 | 51,582 |
| -Porsche | 4,878 | -12.5 | 5,572 | 4,567 |
| -Seat | 26,676 | -28.2 | 37,148 | 31,219 |
| -Skoda | 29,875 | -18.1 | 36,498 | 31,423 |
| -VW brand | 97,784 | -34.4 | 149,105 | 140,313 |
| VOLVO | 16,412 | -24.4 | 21,696 | 18,349 |
| TATA GROUP | 6,765 | -40.9 | 11,439 | 11,383 |
| -Jaguar | 1,309 | -63.2 | 3,561 | 4,580 |
| -Land Rover | 5,456 | -30.7 | 7,878 | 6,803 |
| Source: CCFA |
Top-Selling Carmakers in France in 2020
The PSA Group remained by far the largest carmaker in France in 2020. The PSA Group (-25.1%) performed in line with the broader market (-25.5%) but the Peugeot brand gained market share with sales down by only 20.5%. Citroen and Opel sales were sharply down but the small DS brand outperformed. Sales somewhat reflected PSA’s aims to increased the profitability of the smaller brands rather than market share.
The Renault Group performed slightly better, although Renault lost market share to Peugeot. The Dacia brand struggled but should be helped by new model launches in 2021. Speculation that Alpine might be killed off was thwarted by the announcement that Alpine will become the sporting brand of the group but model planning remains unclear in the short term.
Volkswagen, Europe and by some counts the world’s largest car producer, remained the largest foreign carmaker in France in 2020. However, the group lost market share with the VW brand underperforming with sales down by more than a third. Porsche was one of the best-performing brands in France in 2020.
Toyota was the best-performing carmaker in France in 2020 with sales down by only 12%. The Hyundai Group also performed well above average with sales down by 13.4%. Nissan, the BMW Group, and Volvo outperformed the market by a few percentage points.
The worst-performing car manufacturing groups in France in 2020 were the FCA and Tata groups. Most brands in these groups lost more than 40% in sales.
Best-Selling Car Brands in France in 2020 (Full Year)
The 20 top-selling car brands in France in 2020 were as follows according to the CCFA:
| Marque | 2020 | 2019 | % Change | |
| 1 | Renault | 314,630 | 407,134 | -22.7 |
| 2 | Peugeot | 301,935 | 379,582 | -20.5 |
| 3 | Citroen | 162,688 | 235,110 | -30.8 |
| 4 | VW brand | 97,784 | 149,105 | -34.4 |
| 5 | Dacia | 97,170 | 138,977 | -30.1 |
| 6 | Toyota | 89,727 | 101,730 | -11.8 |
| 7 | Ford | 55,219 | 78,838 | -30.0 |
| 8 | Mercedes Benz | 52,570 | 70,214 | -25.1 |
| 9 | BMW | 45,478 | 58,751 | -22.6 |
| 10 | Audi | 45,360 | 57,533 | -21.2 |
| 11 | Opel | 43,801 | 66,901 | -34.5 |
| 12 | Fiat | 42,360 | 71,666 | -40.9 |
| 13 | Kia | 39,052 | 45,056 | -13.3 |
| 14 | Hyundai | 34,585 | 39,970 | -13.5 |
| 15 | Nissan | 32,964 | 42,313 | -22.5 |
| 16 | Skoda | 29,875 | 36,498 | -18.1 |
| 17 | Seat | 26,676 | 37,148 | -28.2 |
| 18 | DS | 22,182 | 26,845 | -17.4 |
| 19 | Mini | 21,881 | 27,158 | -19.4 |
| 20 | Volvo | 16,412 | 21,696 | -24.4 |
| Source: CCFA |
Top-Selling Car Brands in France in 2020 (Full Year)
There were no changes to rank order of the top 20 best-selling car brands in France in 2020 compared to 2019. Renault remained the largest car brand in France but Peugeot cut the deficit by half. Citroen was a distant third.
Volkswagen was again the largest foreign car brand in France in 2020 but sales were sharply down. Dacia narrowly failed to regain third place that it lost to VW in 2019.
Toyota was the best-performing car marque in France in 2020 — the Yaris was the favorite foreign car model of the French. Ford sales were down by nearly a third.
Mercedes-Benz performed in line with the broader market but gained one sales rank position. The competing German luxury premium brands BMW and Audi performed even better by gaining market share and two rank positions each.
Opel dropped out of the top ten list (from tenth) while Fiat dropped down from eighth a year ago. These were the two worst performing large car brands in France in 2020.
See also: 2020 (Full Year) France: New Car Market Overview and Analysis and 2020 (Full Year) France: Top 30 Best-Selling Car Models.
