The September figures for the main European automobile markets have just been published, allowing us to draw some initial conclusions on the performance of the markets and of Citroën, which had a difficult start to the year.
First observation: the recovery is confirmed for the various European markets, as there is continued improvement on the component shortage front, which is coming to an end, but also on the logistics front, in particular for Stellantis, which is recording strong increases in various countries. In the seven countries studied here, some 914,428 units have found buyers, an increase of 12.15% compared to the same period in 2022, with strong disparities depending on the country, alternating between strong increases (more than 20% for Italy or England) and slight declines, particularly in Germany.
The second observation we can draw from these figures is this: Citroën's sales seem to be growing very close to the market, which should help its market share. The brand is doing better than Peugeot, Fiat or even DS, but less well than Opel, with sales rising sharply in some markets while remaining stable or rising slightly in others.
In terms of the weight of each country in terms of brand sales, we see that France continues to be under-represented for Citroën compared to Peugeot, while it is in the majority for DS, which means that the majority of DS sales were made on its national market, the same for Fiat and Italy. This also indicates that Citroën is mechanically stronger outside France than in France compared to Peugeot.
In conclusion, the European car market should continue to grow as in previous months, although it may appear to be less strong than before. However, September marks a break with previous months, as Citroën's sales are also increasing at a rate close to that of the market, which should mean a good market share. The brand's sales could exceed 40,000 units for the market as a whole, with projections suggesting a market share of over 3.5%, excluding LCVs, which is more in line with Citroën's real weight on the European market. Will September 2023 be the starting point for Citroën's relaunch? Answer in the coming months.
As a reminder, here are the detailed sales figures for the Stellantis brands in Europe in September 2023:
