January Car Sales Rise in France, Spain

Deliveries of new cars in January climbed 3% in France and 20% in Spain, according to trade groups in each country.

Sales in France grew to 156,200 units last month from 152,300 in January 2017, says CCFA. Demand for domestic brands rose 12%, led by an 11% gain for PSA Group’s Peugeot unit. Sales of foreign makes dropped 9%.

In Spain, January car sales surged 20% to 101,700 units, ANFAC reports. The market’s top selling brands were Volkswagen (+34% to 8,900 units), SEAT (+31% to 8,500) and Peugeot (+31% to 7,500).

Diesels continued to lose market share in both countries last month. They fell to 41% of the French market, down 6 percentage points. They tumbled nearly 10 points to a 41.8% share in Spain.