The publication of sales figures for the French automobile market has given rise to strong reactions, in particular concern at the fact that Citroën's share of the passenger car market is less than 7%. However, behind these figures, which only represent registrations, the brand has enjoyed a historic month in terms of orders, thanks in particular to the C3 you! and is optimistic for the second half of the year.
Since the arrival of the new management within Citroën France, the brand has shown itself to be much more combative with aggressive offers which seem to appeal to the public. It must be said that the brand has given itself the means with a C3 You! offered from €99/month but also the C3 Aircross from €139/month or the ë-C4 Live under €200/month. Thanks to these three particularly competitive offers, Citroën was able to take advantage of the open days organized around mid-June to take a substantial number of orders, which it was able to increase throughout the month. The result: the brand has just had a historic month in taking orders from individuals, the most important clientele, making it one of the best, if not the best score of the Stellantis group.
The three models put forward played a big role and brought many people to the dealerships that the sellers were able to seduce since order intake is therefore at a historic level for the brand and, above all, more than half of the people entering the dealership came out with a signed order form, which shows how beneficial this month of June has been for the brand in France. The open doors notably closed with an increase of more than 50% in orders compared to those of June 2022, which shows how much the brand still knows how to be attractive and how receptive French customers have been to the models put forward, in particular the C3 You. ! at €99/month which was a real hit.
As far as registrations are concerned, the situation is much more complex than the gross sales figures would suggest. If we look at the market as a whole, i.e. cars and light commercial vehicles, Citroën is the only French brand to show an increase in sales, with a 10.4% rise in sales, while Peugeot's sales fell by 2.5% and Renault's by 7.5%, and Dacia's, which is much less present in the EU, fell by 9.9%.
The brand owes this performance to commercial vehicles, as Citroën recorded the strongest increase in volume on the French market in June with a 53% rise and an increase in market share of 3.9 points to 16.5%. .
In conclusion, it is always difficult to have a precise view of gross sales figures and although Citroën has a low market share in France this month (8.4% in PC+LCV), the brand has in fact made this month of June a real springboard for the second half of the year thanks to a historic level of orders for private customers. Citroën is therefore quite confident for the second half of the year, especially as it still has a lot of cars to deliver, unlike its direct competitors. After all, the brand can be proud of the C5 Aircross, the best-selling plug-in hybrid in France, the C5 X, which is the leader in the D segment overall and for hybrid engines, without forgetting that Citroën is the leader in sales of electric utility vehicles.
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