French car sales droop 11% in August

Sales fell to 85,565 vehicles in the traditionally slow month when many French people go on vacation, a drop of 6.7% when adjusted for the number of working days, according to the CCFA body representing manufacturers.

Sales had risen by 0.9% in July in unadjusted terms. "We're at record low levels" for the summer period, said Flavien Neuvy at consumer credit company Cetelem.

Most manufacturers in all segments saw sales fall. Renault was able to buck the trend thanks to the release of two new models and managed to achieve a 1.7% increase.

US manufacturer General Motors saw its French sales jump 15.9% thanks to sales of its Chevrolet brand. Italy's Fiat group posted 9.9 percent sales growth.

French manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen saw sales fall 17.3 percent while Volkswagen fell 13%, Ford 19.2%, Nissan 18.7%, BMW 9.1% and Mercedes sales dropped by a whopping 37.8%.

Toyota limited its sales drop to 0.4%.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge