The French light vehicle market was down 4.9% in November with 197,756 new cars and light trucks registered.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more


There was one more working day in November this year compared to last year (21 days this year compared to 20 in 2005). This brings year-to-date registrations to 2,252,606, down 1.3% on a year ago.


Car registrations were down 8% in November to 158,313 units. The French market has been extremely volatile in recent months, down 13.3% in September and up 8.4% in October.


Cumulative passenger car sales in the first 11 months of the year have reached 1,849,817 units, down 2.6% compared to a year earlier.


The light commercial vehicle market is faring better. November sales were up 10% to 39,443 units. 402,789 light commercial vehicles were registered between January and November 2006, an increase of five percent over a year ago.


The market for trucks over five tonnes (excluding buses and coaches), was down 3.2% in November with 4,126 registrations. Year-to-date saels are up 3.1% to49,972 units.


French manufacturers have been hit particularly hard by the decline. Year-to-date their light vehicle sales are down 5.8%. In the latest month they barely managed to maintain their market share above 50% (50.8%), with sales down 13.3%.

Just Auto Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Auto Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Continental has secured the Window Displays Innovation Award in the 2025 Just Auto Excellence Awards for its Window Projection solution, transforming side windows into dynamic, data-rich canvases. Discover how this compact projection technology and intelligent software are reshaping in-car UX and opening fresh revenue streams for OEMs and mobility providers.

Discover the Impact