PARIS -- New-car registrations in France rose by 0.4 percent in April to 188,197, led by double-digit gains at Seat, Citroen, Volvo and Mini.
There were 21 selling days in the month, compared with 20 in April of last year. Adjusted for that difference, sales were down by 4.3 percent. Sales are down by 0.4 percent for the year, according to data from industry association CCFA, in line with expectations by analysts and automakers.
Brands with the largest gains benefited from recently introduced small SUV and crossover models. Seat, VW Group’s Spanish brand, gained 39 percent versus April 2019, as the Arona small crossover buoyed sales. Citroen also benefited from two new crossovers, the C3 and C5 Aircross, as sales jumped by 29 percent. Volvo, behind the XC40, was up by 22 percent.
Among French brands, which hold 58 percent of the market, PSA Group increased sales by 3.3 percent, with gains at Citroen and Opel (plus 5 percent) offsetting a 3.5 percent decline at Peugeot and a 26 percent drop at DS.
Renault Group sales were down 7.5 percent, as Renault brand fell by 6.5 percent and Dacia, after a long string of gains but with no new models, fell by 11 percent. The Alpine A110 sports car recorded registrations of 333 units for the month -- almost the same number as all Porsche models (352 registrations in April), tripling volume over April 2018.
Volkswagen Group sales were up by 7 percent, with Skoda increasing 14 percent and Volkswagen up 1.9 percent. Audi sales rose by 2 percent. Daimler edged out BMW in the premium segments, with a 14 percent increase driven by a 15 percent gain at Mercedes-Benz. BMW Group sales rose 13 percent overall behind strong performances by Mini (plus 20 percent) and BMW brand (plus 10 percent).
Fiat Chrysler sales fell by 14 percent, with Fiat brand down 7 percent and Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati all falling off sharply. Ford sales fell by 13 percent.
Toyota recorded a modest gain of 2.9 percent, but other Asian brands were in the red for the month. Kia was down 2.3 percent, and Hyundai fell 0.3 percent. Nissan sales declined by 28 percent.
Sales of light-commercial vehicles rose by 12 percent, and are up by 6.2 percent for the year.
