After a record year in 2002, French automakers likely will lose market share in western Europe in 2004 for the second consecutive year.

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CCFA, the French carmakers association, blames a weak home market and a pause in new model launches during much of 2004 for the loss, according to Automotive News Europe.


“It’s a passing phenomenon, nothing structural,” said CCFA Chairman Manuel Gomez.


Renault and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen in 2002 won a record 25.7% share of western Europe’s 14.4 million unit new-car market. But this fell to 25.4% last year.


Their market share dipped to 24.4% to the end of October. PSA sold 1.75 million new cars in western Europe during the first 10 months while Renault sold 1.26 million units.

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PSA and Renault sell about a third of their production in their home market.


The French new-car market shrank 2% to 1.66 million units in the first 10 months compared with the same period last year.


Many French consumers are unwilling to make major purchases such as a new car because of high unemployment and high taxes, said Citroen managing director Claude Satinet.


Sales of French cars in Germany, Europe’s biggest auto market, fell 14.3% to 288,894 units while the overall German market fell only 1.8%.


French manufacturers say this is because they have been shunning unprofitable deals in Germany, such as fleet sales at huge discounts.


CCFA’s Gomez said he expects French new car sales in 2005 to be “somewhat above” the 2 million level likely to be reached this year.


The launches of the Citroen C4 lower-medium car and Renault Modus small minivan at September’s Paris auto show came too late to have much influence on the 10-month sales figures.


PSA’s only other new-car launch this year was the Peugeot 407 upper-medium car in April.