In the first half of 2020, the PSA Group remained the largest carmaker in France, Renault the top-selling brand, and the Clio the favorite model.
June 2020: New passenger vehicle registrations in France recovered with sales in June just higher than a year ago. Year-to-date 2020, car sales in France are down by 39% with all major carmakers reporting sales down by more than a third. The PSA Group remained the largest manufacturer of automobiles in France thus far in 2020 with Renault again the best-selling car brand. The Renault Clio narrowly outsold the Peugeot 208 to remain the favorite car model of the French. The battery-electric vehicle Renault Zoe entered the top ten while the Toyota Yaris was the favorite imported car model of the French during the first semester of 2020.
Latest French Car Sales Statistics — 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models; 2022, 2021, 2020.
French New Car Market in 2020 (Half Year)
During the first six months of 2020, new passenger vehicle registrations in France contracted by 38.6% to 715,804 cars — 450,000 fewer cars than were sold during the first semester of 2019. The losses were shared fairly equally between domestic and foreign producers with the market share of French carmakers practically unchanged at 58.7%
Following the collapse of the French new car market due to lockdowns from late March to early June, new car sales recovered in June to 1.2% higher than in June 2019. Although the outlook for the rest of the year is not particularly negative, sales are unlikely to increase sufficiently to make up for the lost sales of the previous months.
During the first six months of 2020, petrol took a market share of new cars sold of 50.7% (58.8 in first half 2019), diesel was 31.2% (34.3), hybrids 11.3% (5%), while electric cars gained the most to take a 6.3% share (1.8%).
Best-Selling Carmakers and Brands in France in 2020 (First Semester)
The largest car manufacturing groups and top-selling car brands in France during the period January to June 2020 were as follows according to the CCFA:
| Manufacturer | HY 2020 | % 19/20 |
| Total Market | 715,804 | -38.6 |
| FRENCH MANUFACTURERS | 420,039 | -38.7 |
| PSA Group | 232,932 | -39.5 |
| – Citroen | 73,768 | -42.0 |
| – DS | 11,089 | -16.0 |
| – Peugeot | 127,912 | -37.4 |
| – Opel | 20,163 | -50.4 |
| RENAULT Group | 187,077 | -37.5 |
| – Renault | 146,120 | -34.0 |
| – Dacia | 40,731 | -46.7 |
| FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS | 295,766 | -38.6 |
| BMW Group | 28,638 | -29.0 |
| – BMW | 19,338 | -28.7 |
| – Mini | 9,293 | -29.5 |
| DAIMLER Group | 22,127 | -40.8 |
| – Mercedes Benz | 21,564 | -35.7 |
| – Smart | 563 | -85.5 |
| FCA Group | 19,197 | -60.2 |
| – Alfa Romeo | 754 | -60.2 |
| – Fiat | 16,649 | -59.1 |
| – Jeep | 1,782 | -68.3 |
| FORD Group | 24,516 | -42.5 |
| HYUNDAI Group | 31,436 | -29.6 |
| – Hyundai | 15,156 | -23.4 |
| – Kia | 16,280 | -29.4 |
| NISSAN Group | 14,558 | -33.5 |
| – Nissan | 14,557 | -33.2 |
| TOYOTA Group | 42,134 | -23.0 |
| – Lexus | 2,558 | -22.6 |
| – Toyota | 39,576 | -23.0 |
| VW Group | 83,992 | -42.0 |
| – Audi | 18,333 | -38.6 |
| – Porsche | 1,990 | -5.2 |
| – Seat | 11,508 | -36.0 |
| – Skoda | 11,991 | -31.1 |
| – Volkswagen | 40,123 | -48.0 |
| VOLVO Group | 6,357 | -38.3 |
| Suzuki Group | 8,100 | -46.6 |
| Source: CCFA |
NOTE: Exclude some smaller brands
Top-Selling Car Brands in France in 2020 (Half Year)
The contraction in the French new car market during the first semester of 2020 was fairly evenly spread with all major manufacturers suffering declines in sales approaching 40%. The PSA Group remained the largest carmaker in France followed by the Renault Group and the Volkswagen Group that remained the top-selling foreign car group in France. The FCA Group was the worst-performing large car manufacturer with sales down 60%.
Although Peugeot was the best-selling car brand during the first quarter of 2020, Renault easily reclaimed top spot by mid-year. Citroen was again the third-largest car brand in France during the first six months of 2020. Dacia narrowly outsold Volkswagen, which only just maintained its position as the top-selling foreign car brand in France ahead of Toyota.
Porsche was the best-performing brand in France thus far in 2020 with sales down by only 5%. Of the larger brands, Toyota and Hyundai sold the best with sales down by less than a quarter. BMW easily outperformed rival German luxury premium brands Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
The two worse-performing major brands in France were Opel and Fiat. Only Smart, Jeep, and Alfa Romeo performed worst.
Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Models in France in 2020 (Half Year)
The ten best-selling car models in France during the first half of 2020 according to the CCFA were:
| Model | Sold HY 2020 | |
| 1 | Renault Clio | 38,884 |
| 2 | Peugeot 208 | 38,863 |
| 3 | Citroen C3 | 24,431 |
| 4 | Peugeot 2008 | 23,901 |
| 5 | Dacia Sandero | 22,770 |
| 6 | Renault Captur | 22,750 |
| 7 | Peugeot 3008 | 20,501 |
| 8 | Renault Twingo | 20,225 |
| 9 | Renault Zoe | 17,650 |
| 10 | Toyota Yaris | 15,404 |
The Renault Clio was again the top-selling car model in France during the first half of 2020. During the first quarter of 2020, the Peugeot 208 was the best-selling car model but the Clio recovered to the top even if outselling the 208 by a mere 21 cars over the first six months of the year. The Clio V had a good six months in Europe and outsold the VW Golf twice in Europe this year — in February and May.
The rest of the top ten were mostly the usual models but the battery-electric Renault Zoe made it into the top ten. The Toyota Yaris was the tenth most popular car model in France thus far in 2020 and the best-selling foreign car model.
Latest French Car Sales Statistics — 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models; 2022, 2021, 2020.
