The market for new cars in France rose by 1 per cent, year on year, in January.
While that may not be cause enough for bunting and champagne, it marks the fifth straight month in which the badly mauled French car market has ticked upwards, and also seems to mark a significant turnaround for its indigenous car makers. Among the January figures, Renault posted a 12 per cent gain in sales, boosted in particular by demand for the new Captur mini SUV and various bargain-basement Dacia models.
PSA Peugeot Citroën was only able to riposte with a 6 per cent sales climb, but even that must be seen as a victory given PSA’s recent woes and its reliance on its home market.
Interestingly, sales of imported cars appear on be on the slide in France.
Volkswagen’s French sales dropped by 9 per cent, General Motors by 8 per cent and Hyundai & Kia by a combined 27 per cent.
Only Toyota was able to post a gain – up by 11 per cent. Does this mean that, as France’s stuttering economy begins to recover, that its car buyers are more keen to purchase with patriotism in mind?