France Fleet Registrations Drop in December

Fleet registrations in France declined 9.6% in December 2018, despite total registrations for the year posting a 2.5% year-to-date growth.

The last three months of 2018 showed declines in fleet registrations in the country, despite the first three quarters of 2018 showing growing volumes, according to Dataforce. The fourth quarter, however, had a 6.5% decline.

Leading the way in fleet registrations were Peugeot and Renault, followed by Citroen in third place, which saw a volume increase of 17.1%, according to Dataforce. This was supported by registrations of the C3 and C3 Aircross, a small SUV that was third in its segment, trailing behind the Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008. This was followed by Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Despite the 9.6% drop for true fleets in France, registration of company cars equipped with a Petrol engines were up by 33.4%. Consequently, the share of Petrol rose to 29.4%, reports Dataforce. Battery-electric vehicles and hybrids also showed a strong increase with a 34.4% and 22.8% growth, respectively, while plug-in hybrids (PHEV) faced a 15.1% drop. However, there were some PHEVs with very positive results, especially large SUV models like the Land Rover Range Rover Sport or Volvo’s XC90, said Dataforce.