New car registrations in France rose by 21% to 183,365 units in July after five months of declines, the French car manufacturing association CCFA said August 1. Adjusted for the number of working days, the increase was 10%.
Registrations of French-made cars rose by 20.9%, giving them 48.7% of the market, while foreign-made cars went up by 21%, or 51.3% of the market.
"This spectacular recovery... allows us to wipe out the lag which has built up since the beginning of the year," the CCFA said.
Renault saw new registrations rise 21.6% to 37,104 units, giving it a 20.2% market share, said the CCFA. Renault brand vehicle registrations grew 19%. The group's Dacia brand registrations climbed 68.5% to 2,707 units, or a 1.5% market share. Renault said its sales had benefited from the successful launch of the new Twingo, which has sold 10,000 models since its launch in mid-June.
PSA Citroen Peugeot group saw new registrations increase by 22.2%. Peugeot brand registrations expanded by 18% to 30,615 units or a 16.7% market share. Citroen brand registrations were 27.9% higher at 24,276 units. Peugeot said its sales had been boosted by its 207 model, "the car which was most sold in France in the month of July" with a 6.1% market share.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
