French new-car registrations fell 6% to 171,879 in April with two fewer selling days in the month, French car industry association said in a statement on Tuesday.
Taking into account the difference in selling days, growth was 3.9%, Automotive News reported on May 2.
Volkswagen Group’s Seat brand was the biggest winner among major marques with volume rising 21%, while sales at sibling unit Skoda rose 8.7%.
Overall, VW Group sales fell 8.5%, hit by an 8.4% drop at Audi and a 15% slide at the core VW brand. Porsche registrations plunged 19%.
Domestic brands were hit as Renault Group sales slipped 8.3%, dragged down by a 9.3% decline at Renault brand and a 5.3% drop at its budget Dacia unit.
PSA Group’s sales fell 5.3% with Peugeot sales down 2.2% and Citroen’s volume falling 5.2%. Registrations of DS cars, the group’s premium brand, plummeted 42%.
Kia had a good month with a 12% increase while Hyundai volume dropped 15%.
Among other volume brand’s Fiat sales were up 3.9% and Toyota registrations increased 1.2%.
Sales at General Motors’ Opel brand fell 3.6%, while registrations at Ford were down 6.4%.
Following the release of April data, analysts Evercore ISI forecast French auto sales will fall to 1.88 million this year from just over 2 million last year.
