The French car market still rising
Sales of new cars in France have continued to rise in April, to 1.9% from April 2009, but at a much more slowly, reflecting an impact of declining car scrapping and leaving the uncertainty about the rest of the year.
"This figure is normal. We see a gradual reduction of the effects of scrappage" observes François Roudier, spokesman for the Committee of French car manufacturers.
The spokesman noted "a decline in registrations and orders on new line", small cars that benefited most from the car scrapping. Meanwhile, "we see a rise in average range on some models," he adds.
Carlos da Silva, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, a judge even when the result of April "a little surprising" and speaks of "semi-surprise"."The compact segment is doing rather better than what we expected" while "small cars to fall again mechanically," he notes.
Moreover, "manufacturers have continued to put much money on the table to try to compensate" the premium reduction. They have indeed offered to their customers numerous discounts and promotions. In this context, May will be "a little month of truth," said Carlos da Silva, who expects a decline it expected in April.
"I do not see how that can withstand much more, plus there is not really new models," he said.
French manufacturers are considering a European market decline 9 to 10% this year.1,000 euros last year, the scrapping bonus increased to 700 euro from 1 January, but for vehicles ordered before December 31, the premium remained at its former level for deliveries until the end of March.
This measure was prompted a boom in orders at the end of the year, registrations recorded in the first quarter up 17%. In the first four months of the year, the increase was 12.9% compared to the same period of 2009.
The Minister of Industry Christian Estrosi welcomed in a statement of "the good performance of the market", which "demonstrates the effectiveness of the government strategy of gradual withdrawal of the scrappage scheme".
On 1 July, the scrappage decline further, to 500 euros.
The month of April has been more favorable to French brands, up 8%, as foreign brands, down 4.9%.Of the 190,986 new cars registered last month, the French brands accounted for 56.1% of the market.
The increase was 17.2% for the Renault group and 7.3% for PSA Peugeot Citroen. At Peugeot, we judge that "the effect of scrappage continuous" and "concerns an order for two 206 + and 207," the Director of Commerce France, Olivier Veyrier, said in a statement.