2021 (Half Year) France: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

In the first half-year of 2021, Stellantis was the largest carmaker in France, but Peugeot replaced Renault as the top-selling brand, and the 208 outsold the Clio as the favorite car model of the French.

January to June 2021: the French new car market recovered by nearly 29% compared to the first half of 2020 but was still significantly below recent averages. Stellantis was by far the largest carmaker in France while Peugeot replaced Renault as the best-selling car brand in France. The Peugeot 208 similarly replaced the Renault Clio as the favorite car model of the French.

Latest French Car Sales Statistics — 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models; 2022, 2021, 2020.

French New Car Market in 2021 (Half Year)

During the first six months of 2021, new passenger vehicle registrations in France increased by a relatively modest 29%. During the first semester of 2021, only 922,766 new passenger cars were registered in France compared to the crisis level of only 715,804 cars during the first half of 2020. The French new car market was still around a quarter of a million vehicles smaller than at the start of 2019 and 2018.

New car sales in France in June 2021 were 15% lower than in June 2020 — this was largely due to the market opening up in June 2020 while in 2021 June much of the economy was still in restrictive measures.

French Car Market by Fuel Type in 2021 (First Half)

The composition of the French new car market by fuel type during the first half of 2020 was as follows:

Engine Type	HY 2020	% 2020	HY 2021	% 2021
Petrol (essence)	362,971	50.7	390,686	42.3
Diesel	222,976	31.2	212,439	23
Hybrids	80,755	11.3	223,823	24.3
–Plug-in Hybrids	20,197	2.8	71,708	7.8
Electric	44,969	6.3	72,454	7.9
Source: CCFA

During the first six months of 2020, petrol remained the leading fuel type for new cars sold in France but the market share for purely petrol engines fell to below 50% while less than a quarter of new cars used diesel.

The market share of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in France thus far in 2021 increased from 6.3% to only 7.9% — a relatively weak performance compared to other European new car markets. Hybrid cars more than doubled market share in France with plug-in hybrids almost equaling the share of purely electric cars.

Best-Selling Carmakers and Brands in France in 2021 (First Semester)

The largest car manufacturing groups and top-selling car brands in France during the period January to June 2021 were as follows according to the CCFA:

	1-6/2021	HY2020	% Change 20/21
TOTAL MARCHE	922,766	715,798	28.91
— STELLANTIS	318,345	252,128	26.26
ALFA ROMEO	756	754	0.27
CITROEN	90,581	73,768	22.79
DS	12,768	11,089	15.14
FIAT	22,251	16,649	33.65
JEEP	5,526	1,782	210.10
MASERATI	42	12	250.00
OPEL	22,527	20,163	11.72
PEUGEOT	163,894	127,911	28.13
— GROUPE RENAULT	215,886	187,076	15.40
ALPINE	507	226	124.34
DACIA	62,997	40,730	54.67
RENAULT	152,382	146,120	4.29
— GROUPE VOLKSWAGEN	129,105	83,990	53.71
AUDI	27,813	18,331	51.73
BENTLEY	25	28	-10.71
CUPRA	1,910	0	0.00
LAMBORGHIN	56	19	194.74
PORSCHE	1,845	1,990	-7.29
SEAT	17,033	11,508	48.01
SKODA	18,298	11,991	52.60
VOLKSWAGEN	62,125	40,123	54.84
— GROUPE B.M.W	38,646	28,638	34.95
B.M.W.	25,102	19,338	29.81
MINI	13,538	9,293	45.68
ROLLS ROYC	6	7	-14.29
— GROUPE TOYOTA	56,681	42,134	34.53
LEXUS	2,663	2,558	4.10
TOYOTA	54,018	39,576	36.49
— GROUPE FORD	26,873	24,516	9.61
FORD	26,873	24,516	9.61
— GROUPE NISSAN	14,728	14,558	1.17
INFINITI	0	1	0.00
NISSAN	14,728	14,557	1.17
— GROUPE DAIMLER	27,116	22,126	22.55
MERCEDES	26,299	21,563	21.96
SMART	817	563	45.12
— GROUPE HYUNDAI	45,243	31,436	43.92
HYUNDAI	23,039	15,156	52.01
KIA	22,204	16,280	36.39
— GROUPE GEELY	9,042	6,357	42.24
VOLVO	9,042	6,357	42.24
— GROUPE TATA	4,205	2,729	54.09
JAGUAR	1,038	667	55.62
LAND ROVER	3,167	2,062	53.59
— GROUPE SUZUKI	12,738	8,100	57.26
SUZUKI	12,738	8,100	57.26
— GROUPE MITSUBISHI	808	1,916	-57.83
MITSUBISHI	808	1,916	-57.83
— OTHERS	25,260	10,094	150.25
Source: CCFA

Top-Selling Car Brands in France in 2021 (Half Year)

Stellantis — the combination of the PSA and FCA groups — increased its dominance of the French new car market with a combined market share of 34%. Peugeot brand performed in line with the broader market and replaced Renault as the best-selling car brand in France during the first half of 2021. Of the larger Stellantis brands — the group has more than a dozen — only Fiat outperformed the market while Opel and DS strongly underperformed.

The Renault Group lost market share in France at the start of 2021 with Renault increasing sales by only 4%. In contrast, Dacia with sales up by 55% was one of the top performers in France.

The Volkswagen Group also performed strongly in France during the first half of 2021 with group sales up by half with Audi, Seat, Skoda, and VW all increasing sales by around 50%. However, Bentley and Porsche were two of only four brands with weaker unit sales in France thus far in 2021. (The others were Rolls-Royce and Mitsubishi.)

The BMW Group increased sales in France in 2021 by more than a third with both BMW and Mini brands outperforming the market. Sales of Toyota were similarly up by just over a third.

Ford sales in France in the first half of 2021 increased by only a modest 10% while Nissan sales increased by a dismal 1%. Mercedes-Benz also lost market share despite a strong recovery for low-volume electric-only brand Smart.

Hyundai, Kia, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Suzuki had a strong performance but volume sales far below the larger manufacturers.

Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Models in France in 2021 (Half Year)

The ten best-selling car models in France during the first half of 2021 according to the CCFA were:

	Model	Sold HY 2021	Sold HY 2020
1	Peugeot 208	48,515	38,863
2	Renault Clio	47,458	38,884
3	Peugeot 2008	40,604	23,901
4	Dacia Sandero	39,115	22,770
5	Citroen C3 III	35,949	24,431
6	Renault Captur	32,281	22,750
7	Peugeot 3008 II	31,001	20,501
8	Toyota Yaris	19,999	15,404
9	Renault Twingo III	19,959	20,225
10	Renault Mégane IV	18,064
	Electric-Only Models:
18	Tesla Model 3	13,084
20	Renault Zoe	10,797	17,650
88	Volkswagen ID3	2,508
	Source: CCFA

The Peugeot 208 replaced the Renault Clio as the top-selling car model in France during the first half of 2021. During the first half of 2020, the Clio outsold the 208 by only 21 cars but the role has been reversed in 2021 with the 208 around a thousand units ahead. The Clio, seemingly perpetually the second most popular car in Europe behind the Golf, struggled in Europe thus far this year but in May 2021 took its traditional second place again.

Sales of the Peugeot 2008 and Dacia Sandero almost doubled allowing each model to move up one rank position while the Citroen C3 slipped from third to fifth. The Renault Captur and the Peugeot 3008 were the only top-ten models in France in the same rank position as a year ago.

The Toyota Yaris moved up two rank positions to eighth as the most popular imported car model in France during the first half of 2021. The Renault Twingo was the only top model with weaker unit sales than a year ago and slipped one rank position. The Renault Megane was the only new entrant on the top ten list.

The electric-only Renault Zoe dropped out of the list from 9th to 20th. Not only were sales weaker, but the Zoe also was not even the top-selling electric-only model in France with the Tesla Model 3 at 18th the best selling electric-only car model. The VW ID3 made it only to 88th. (From initial statistics it was not possible to determine the electric sales of models such as the Peugeot 208 that are available in both electric and petrol versions.)