After months of steady decline, the car market is finally showing signs of recovery in France. Let’s see which models sold the most last month.
The auto sector is going through a tricky 2025 in France. After sales figures kept falling since the start of the year, the indicators finally turned positive in September. According to the Plateforme Automobile (PFA), more than 140,000 new cars were registered in mainland France last month.
Is September the moment of rebound? After several consecutive months in the red, the French car market breaks the run of decline in September and the lights have at last switched to green. Last month, 140,354 registrations were recorded in mainland France, representing a 1% increase compared with September 2024 (139,002 registrations). It is worth noting, however, that last month included one extra working day.
Nevertheless, despite a stronger September, registrations remain down for the year so far compared with the first nine months of 2024. Over this period, 1,186,785 new car sales were recorded, a drop of 6.3%. Cumulative since January 1, the share of electric cars has risen to 18.3% (versus 17.2% over the same period in 2024). Also notable is the strong rise of hybrids (hybrid and plug-in hybrid). Since the start of the year, their share stands at 50.9%, compared with 40.4% from January to September 2024. In contrast, petrol and diesel continue to decline slowly.
The Renault Clio remains comfortably at the top of the sales ranking.
Which new cars were the best-sellers in September? The Renault group was the top seller of new cars last month. Renault, Dacia and Alpine together posted 36,097 registrations, an increase of 6.5% compared with September 2024. In detail, the diamond brand shows a 1.6% drop, while Dacia soars by 23.7%. Stellantis remains stable, with 36,071 sales. Finally, Toyota loses ground (-11.2%).
The sales podium for September is the same as for the first nine months of the year: leading is the Renault Clio, followed by the Peugeot 208 and the Dacia Sandero. By contrast, the Citroën C3 makes a strong move, ranking 4th with 3,811 registrations. Next come the Peugeot 2008 and 3008 duo. Also worth noting is the strong showing from the Renault Captur (3,245 registrations).
Here is the top 10 list of new car sales in France in September.
- Renault Clio: 8,627 units (75,537 since January 1)
- Peugeot 208: 6,785 units (54,505 since January 1)
- Dacia Sandero: 5,100 units (49,269 since January 1)
- Citroën C3: 3,811 units (30,378 since January 1)
- Peugeot 2008: 3,457 units (41,029 since January 1)
- Peugeot 3008: 3,414 units (31,028 since January 1)
- Renault Captur: 3,245 units (28,594 since January 1)
- Dacia Duster: 3,168 units (30,076 since January 1)
- Renault Symbioz: 2,430 units (23,671 since January 1)
- Toyota Yaris Cross: 2,199 units (24,349 since January 1)
This data shows a clear trend towards smaller, more efficient vehicles, a pattern also seen in the rising demand for 1980s-2000s cars among new generation collectors who appreciate their simplicity and practicality.
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