UPDATE: French Feb New Car Registrations Up 11% On Year
Monday March 3rd, 2008 / 12h36
PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Registrations of new cars in France rose by 11% in February compared with the same year-ago month to 175,182, reversing the 5.6% decline recorded in January, according to latest provisional industry data released Monday. Adjusted for an equivalent number of working days, the February total was up 5.8%. The trend of French car registrations in recent months has been inconsistent due to the introduction of new financial incentives and disincentives aimed at dissuading car buyers from vehicles with high carbon dioxide emissions. Registrations of the Renault (13190.FR) group jumped 21% in February from a year earlier to 42,720. The Renault brand's sales have been flagging in recent months, but in February they increased 16%. Sales of the Dacia brand, which sells the no-frills Logan sedan and its derivatives, climbed 81% in February to 4,049 vehicles. Registrations of PSA Peugeot-Citroen (12150.FR) rose 13% in February on year to 58,761 vehicles. The performance of the company's two brands was quite similar, with Peugeot up 13% and Citroen 11% higher. Over the first two months of the year, overall new car registrations were up 2.4% at 337,298 vehicles. After the steep falls observed in January, registrations of cars made by premium German brands recovered smartly. BMW AG (BMW.XE) saw a 38% jump in February from a year before, while Daimler AG (DAI.XE) was up 8.6%. Italy's Fiat Automobile SpA (FIA.MI) recorded a 28% increase, while Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) scored an increase of 0.6%. -By David Pearson, Dow Jones Newswires; +331 4017 1740, david.pearson@dowjones.com
