French car sales rose 18% in November, contributing to a stable full-year outlook and benefiting from comparison with a particularly poor performance a year earlier, data published on Wednesday showed, according to Reuters.
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New car registrations in November rose to 176,090 vehicles from 149,236 in November 2003, France’s CCFA car makers’ association reportedly said. On an underlying basis, sales rose 12.1%, based on the same number of business days.
The comparison in November was favourable, given a particularly poor performance in November 2003 when sales tumbled 9.4%, Reuters noted.
“The good level of registrations in November should be seen above all as a making up of lost ground,” the CCFA reportedly said, adding that November’s performance helped stabilise year-to-date sales.
Reuters said the first 11 months of 2004 have seen sales slip 0.4%, or 1.7% on a comparable basis, an improvement on October, when year-to-date sales were down around 2%.
“This should allow us to finish 2004 at around the same level as in 2003,” the CCFA said.
Reuters said November sales by PSA Peugeot Citroen rose 13.3% while rival Renault saw sales rise 22.8%.
The news agency noted that foreign manufacturers, which have been putting French makers under considerable price pressure, also made strong progress in November, with sales up 18.2%, taking their market share to 42.4%.
