France France - New motor vehicle registrations

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Vehicle registrations - France. December of 2008

Fewer December passenger car sales in France

In December, vehicle registrations in France fell by 15.48% with respect to December of 2007. In total, 189,449 cars were registered and 2,573,713 new cars were sold in the last twelve months, 0.4% less than the year before.

The breakdown of car sales figures for the month of December is:

  • Commercial vehicles sold: 35,763, 14% less than in December of 2007.
  • Passenger cars regitrations: 153,686, which represents a figure of 15.81% less than in December of 2007.

France is among the ten countries where the greatest number of cars have been registered in the last year, in ranking of 135 countries based on number of vehicle registrations.

A very useful variable for estimating the level of economic wealth enjoyed by French residents, when compared to the other countries in the ranking, is the number of vehicles sold or registered per thousand residents in the last year. With annual sales of 40 cars per 1,000 residents, 2.94 of them in the last month, France, occupies 16th place in the ranking.

As can be seen, the number of registrations per thousand residents has fallen in the last year. A drop in registrations generally indicates a fall in consumer confidence and, when it is sustained, a recession in the real economy.

Changes in French vehicle registration numbers are shown in the tables below. As several studies indicate, these changes are very much related to changes in GDP and, hence, to a country's economic situation. Sales have grown since 1998, as 2,342,136 were produced that year as have the number of registrations per thousand residents, which that year numbered 38.93.

Here we show you the progression of vehicle registrations in France. You can see car registrations in other countries in en vehicle registrations and see all the economic information about France in en French economy.

France - New motor vehicle registrations
DateCommercial vehicles MonthPassengers vehicles MonthMonthly vehicle salesMonthly Vehicles/ 1,000 p.Commercial vehicles YearPassengers vehicles YearAnnual vehicle salesAnnual Vehicles/ 1,000 p.
December 200835,763153,686189,4492.94523,4312,050,2822,573,71340.00
November 200838,512145,893184,4052.88529,2552,079,1442,608,39940.75
October 200846,946174,939221,8853.47536,6222,103,0082,639,63041.24
September 200842,158160,565202,7233.17536,7152,116,9462,653,66141.46
August 200830,145103,350133,4952.09533,9852,104,5452,638,53041.22
July 200844,424182,954227,3783.55536,5352,112,4442,648,97941.39
June 200851,655219,753271,4084.24537,9292,112,8302,650,75941.41
May 200847,809184,463232,2723.63535,8422,109,5532,645,39541.33
April 200848,278198,558246,8363.86531,2302,097,4102,628,64041.07
March 200848,243188,879237,1223.70525,3362,071,4732,596,80940.57
February 200845,204175,126220,3303.44522,1112,072,4632,594,57440.54
January 200844,294162,116206,4103.22519,2512,055,0082,574,25940.22
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France - New motor vehicle registrations
France - New motor vehicle registrations