Paris (AFP)

The French new car market has increased slightly in November, compared to a year earlier, and is moving towards a year at about the same level as the previous, according to figures released Sunday by the industry federation.

In November, 172,734 new passenger cars were put into circulation on French roads, an increase of 0.65% over one year, according to the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA). November 2019, however, had fewer business days than 2018.

From January to November, new registrations reached a total of 2.003 million vehicles, against 2.008 million vehicles over the same period a year earlier (-0.25%). This development is in line with the projections of the CCFA, which has a long history for 2019 on a "stable" year compared to 2018.

The month of November does not change the deal on the sharing of the cake between French and foreign manufacturers. The former hold 57.48% of the market over the past year at the end of the month, against 42.52% for the latter, a proportion similar to a year earlier.

The two major French manufacturers, PSA (Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel) and Renault (with its own brand, Dacia and Alpine) had various fortunes in the month of November alone.

The first, on the road to a merger with Fiat Chrysler, saw its new passenger car registrations drop by 7.04% to 54,503 units. The second sign, conversely, is an increase of 11.53% to 42,562 registrations.

These figures conceal a variety of evolutions according to the brands of the two groups, especially for Renault, whose own brand has seen its registrations leap 26.92% to 32,617 but among which those of Dacia, badge "low-cost" , fell 20.90% to 9.770.

At PSA, the two main brands, Citroën and Peugeot, each sign a slight decline, respectively 3.17% to 17.181 registrations and 3.99% to 31.510. Opel suffered a much stronger fall, from 37.65% to 3.801. On the other hand, the registrations of the brand with luxurious aspirations DS, which is renewing its range, rise from 2,08% to 2,011 units.

Outside the French groups, the German Volkswagen, by far the most active foreigner on the French market, continued its recovery started in the fall, after being one of the main losers of the entry into force of a European anti-pollution standard a year earlier.

In November, its registrations increased by 8.05% over one year, to 23,959 vehicles, however marking a slowdown after two spectacular leaps the previous two months (+ 46.9% and + 31.6%).

Among the other notable variations among foreign groups, the Japanese Nissan - partner of Renault - and the Korean Hyundai sign great increases, respectively 39.93% to 3,399 registrations and 10,61% to 6,862.

In contrast, the Japanese Toyota and Suzuki, as well as German Daimler, recorded sharp declines, respectively 12.64% to 8,278 registrations, 38,20% to 1,464 and 12,73% to 6,236. Fiat Chrysler also suffered a decline, from 6.90% to 6,017 units.

© 2019 AFP