New car sales in France jumped 3.1% in July compared with the same month a year ago on the back of government backed incentives which have boosted demand for smaller models.
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Car registrations reached 188,635 last month according to a French trade association, although total sales of light vehicles, which include commercial vans as well as cars, dropped 1.3% to 218,790 registrations.
Car sales ended a five month slump in March as the incentives combined with environmental bonus – and penalty – payments spurred demand for smaller, more fuel efficient cars although sales of luxury vehicles slowed.
PSA Peugeot Citroen booked a 5% increase in light vehicle registrations to 72,091 units while Renault volume rose 12% to 52,469.
BMW was down 18% to 5,831, while Mercedes-Benz posted a 25% drop to 6,529 units. Volkswagen saw its French sales drop 20% to 22,151 vehicles in July.
For the first seven months overall, French light vehicle registrations fell 3.7%, while cars alone gained 0.6%.
