French car sales declined by 2.4% last month according to data released by the French carmakers’ association, the CCFA. New car sales in February reached 173,121 cars, against 177,412 in February last year.
Underlying demand was interpreted by analysts as quite strong and follows a robust performance in January when the selling rate was estimated at a seasonally adjusted running rate (SAAR) of 2.3 million years.
The impact of recently launched models – such as the Peugeot 307 – also affects the comparison with last year.
Car demand in France had seemed to be slipping gently back in the second half of last year, after climbing strongly in the first half. However, the first two months’ figures do not fit that pattern, the cumulative car market being just 0.9% below last year’s level and defying evidence of weaker consumer confidence in France.
The CCFA figures are reproduced in full below:

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By GlobalData
IMMATRICULATIONS DE VEHICULES NEUFS – TENDANCES – VOITURES PARTICULIERES NEUVES
|
– 6,0
5,2
20 847
20 224
– 3,0
5,5
GROUPE FIAT
9 635
7 486
– 22,3
4,3
19 186
16 857
– 12,1
4,6
BMW
2 799
3 335
+ 19,1
1,9
6 729
7 963
+ 18,3
2,2
DAIMLERCHRYSLER
4 273
5 726
+ 34,0
3,3
11 153
12 774
+ 14,5
3,5
ROVER
637
531
– 16,6
0,3
1 427
1 392
– 2,5
0,4
MARQUES JAPONAISES
8 105
8 914
+ 10,0
5,1
17 374
20 111
+ 15,8
5,5
MARQUES COREENNES
1 479
1 723
+ 16,5
1,0
2 950
3 773
+ 27,9
1,0
TOTAL MARQUES ETRANGERES (2)
69 537
63 596
– 8,5
36,7
148 847
140 179
– 5,8
38,4
TOTAL GENERAL
177 412
173 121
– 2,4
100
368 615
365 210
– 0,9
100
(2) Y COMPRIS AUTRES MARQUES ETRANGERES
(3) NON CORRIGEE DES JOURS OUVRABLES
MARQUES | FÉVRIER | CUMUL | ||||||||||||||
2001 | 2002 | Variation | Pénétration en % | 2001 | 2002 | Variation | Pénétration en % | |||||||||
Citroën | 30 511 | 27 134 | – 11,1 | 13,2 | 64 585 | 59 961 | – 7,2 | 13,7 | ||||||||
Peugeot | 42 629 | 44 484 | + 4,4 | 21,5 | 82 737 | 87 899 | + 6,2 | 20,2 | ||||||||
Total PSA | 73 140 | 71 618 | – 2,1 | 34,7 | 147 322 | 147 860 | + 0,4 | 33,9 | ||||||||
Total Renault | 59 633 | 62 258 | + 4,4 | 30,2 | 123 873 | 127 542 | + 3,0 | 29,3 | ||||||||
Total MARQUES FRANCAISES (1) | 132 776 | 133 920 | + 0,9 | 64,9 | 271 211 | 275 487 | + 1,6 | 63,2 | ||||||||
GROUPE VOLKSWAGEN | 19 365 | 16 815 | – 13,2 | 8,1 | 41 695 | 36 904 | – 11,5 | 8,5 | ||||||||
GM EUROPE | 14 946 | 11 412 | – 23,6 | 5,5 | 30 292 | 23 286 | – 23,1 | 5,3 | ||||||||
GROUPE FORD | 11 433 | 10 393 | – 9,1 | 5,0 | 24 545 | 23 376 | – 4,8 | 5,4 | ||||||||
GROUPE FIAT | 12 730 | 10 607 | – 16,7 | 5,1 | 25 432 | 23 623 | – 7,1 | 5,4 | ||||||||
BMW | 2 799 | 3 335 | + 19,1 | 1,6 | 6 729 | 7 963 | + 18,3 | 1,8 | ||||||||
DAIMLERCHRYSLER | 6 406 | 7 398 | + 15,5 | 3,6 | 15 474 | 16 900 | + 9,2 | 3,9 | ||||||||
ROVER | 639 | 534 | – 16,4 | 0,3 | 1 438 | 1 397 | – 2,9 | 0,3 | ||||||||
MARQUES JAPONAISES | 9 106 | 9 748 | + 7,1 | 4,7 | 19 470 | 22 073 | + 13,4 | 5,1 | ||||||||
MARQUES COREENNES | 1 555 | 1 775 | + 14,1 | 0,9 | 3 115 | 3 890 | + 24,9 | 0,9 | ||||||||
TOTAL MARQUES ETRANGERES (2) | 79 523 | 72 561 | – 8,8 | 35,1 | 169 463 | 160 589 | – 5,2 | 36,8 | ||||||||
TOTAL GENERAL | 212 299 | 206 481 | – 2,7 | 100 | 440 674 | 436 076 | – 1,0 | 100 | ||||||||
(1) Y COMPRIS DIVERS (2) Y COMPRIS AUTRES MARQUES ETRANGERES (3) NON CORRIGEE DES JOURS OUVRABLES | ||||||||||||||||