In France, where private car buyers are increasingly seeking budget-friendly options due to inflation, Dacia and MG have emerged as major winners.
According to market researcher Dataforce, the Dacia Sandero was the best-selling car in France’s private market last month, which saw a 19 percent growth, leading to an overall market increase of 9.4 percent. In fact, for the second consecutive month, the Sandero was poised to be Europe’s top-selling car.
In addition to the Sandero, two other Dacia models – the Spring and the Duster – also made it to the top five-selling private-market models in France (see table below).
Dataforce’s Senior Automotive Analyst, Benjamin Kibies, pointed out that Dacia “delivers exactly what private customers are looking for at the moment, namely affordable mobility when budgets are tight.”
When taking all sales channels into account, the Sandero secured the third spot last month, with a volume of 4,717 units, trailing behind the Peugeot 208 (7,279) and the Renault Clio (5,332).
In February, the government incentives of up to 7,000 euros for low-income households and 5,000 euros for others made the MG4 EV incredibly attractive to French buyers, causing its sales to surge. The electric hatchback was the best-selling model for MG in France, with 1,004 registrations, 899 of which were from private buyers.
MG’s overall volume in France skyrocketed by almost 300 percent to 1,090 cars, and its affordable models like the MG4 EV helped the Chinese automaker outperform established rivals such as Suzuki and Mazda in the market.