France is expected to record its best year for car sales since 2001, according to French industry minister Christian Estrosi. as drivers take advantage of the various government incentives.
Estrosi said 2009 new car registrations were expected to reach 2.27 million units, up over 10 percent from 2008.
It seems there might be a French nationalism driving results as well as newspaper Les Echos said French brands had benefited the most from the increased sales, rising 12 percent, which is double the rate of their foreign rivals. The French new car market, however, remains driven by models built in low-cost countries, the newspaper said.
“If Renault’s and Peugeot’s factories are running more than at the end of 2008, the market remains driven by models constructed in low-cost countries,” the newspaper said, meaning that car-scrapping schemes benefited carmakers in general but gave less of a boost to French employment.
French Car sales rose 48.4 percent in November and 7.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2009, carmakers’ association the CCFA said this month.
Source: Autonews Europe
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