France March 2011: Citroen C3 and Dacia Duster beat records

As cash-for-clunkers orders had a March 31 delivery deadline, this is the final month of artificially boosted sales for the French market at +6% and 257,631 registrations. In March and possibly for the first time ever all cars are under 5% share, and the models ranking is very eventful:

Just below the Renault Clio, best seller for the 3rd month in a row, we find the Citroen C3 in 2nd position at 12,565 units and an outstanding 4.9% share. That’s three C3 nameplate records beaten all at once: best volume ever (beating 8,656 in Dec 2010), best position ever (beating #3 in Aug 2006) and best market share ever (beating 4.5% in May 2005).

The Peugeot 207 drops to 3rd at 4.7%, hurt by the exceptional performance of its older sister the Peugeot 206+, at its best position ever in 4th place with 3.5% share. The Renault Megane and Peugeot 308 follow.

For the first time, the Dacia Duster ranks in the Top 10 in France, at a remarkable 7th place with 6,634 sales and 2.6% share. All these figures are new records.

The Citroen C4 new generation jumps into the Top 10 for the first time at #9 with 6,300 sales and 2.4%. Other good performers include the Nissan Micra at #32, the Chevrolet Spark at #33 and the Peugeot 508 at #35.

Full Top 20 Ranking France Table below :

Pos	Model	Mar	%	Feb	2011	%	Pos
1	Renault Clio	12,700	4.9%	1	34,811	5.4%	1
2	Citroen C3	12,565	4.9%	4	27,147	4.2%	3
3	Peugeot 207	12,140	4.7%	2	33,278	5.1%	2
4	Peugeot 206+	8,829	3.4%	6	22,429	3.5%	5
5	Renault Mégane	7,847	3.0%	5	21,142	3.3%	6
6	Peugeot 308	6,732	2.6%	8	17,253	2.7%	8
7	Dacia Duster	6,634	2.6%	16	13,500	2.1%	15
8	VW Polo	6,316	2.5%	10	14,664	2.3%	10
9	Citroen C4 II	6,300	2.4%	11	15,020	2.3%	9
10	Renault Twingo	6,267	2.4%	3	22,668	3.5%	4
11	Renault Scénic	6,074	2.4%	7	17,422	2.7%	7
12	Ford Fiesta	5,780	2.2%	9	14,525	2.2%	11
13	Peugeot 3008	5,676	2.2%	14	13,858	2.1%	13
14	VW Golf/Plus	5,271	2.0%	15	12,087	1.9%	17
15	Opel Corsa	5,270	2.0%	20	12,481	1.9%	16
16	Renault Clio Campus	5,200	2.0%	12	13,930	2.2%	12
17	Citroen C4 Picasso	5,011	1.9%	13	13,560	2.1%	14
18	Dacia Sandero	4,378	1.7%	25	10,123	1.6%	19
19	Citroen C3 Picasso	4,331	1.7%	17	10,518	1.6%	18
20	Peugeot 107	4,121	1.6%	23	9,297	1.4%	21