The Renault Twingo IV is up to a record 4th place at home.

The French new car market is up year-on-year for the 6th straight month, with October volumes up 7% to 149,341. The year-to-date tally is now up 4.4% to 1,384,293. In a record fuel price context, petrol sales implode -44.2% year-on-year to just 14,910 and 10% share vs. 19.2% a year ago and 26.9% in October 2024, diesel sinks -65% to 2,034 and 1.4% share vs. 4.2% in 2025 and 6.5% two years ago. HEVs are down -6% to 55,354 and 37.1% share vs. 42.2% one year ago and 40.4% in 2024. In contrast plug in vehicles are on a roll. PHEVs are up 13.4% to 10,571 and 7.1% share vs. 6.7% in 2025 and 8% in 2024. Once again the big story this month is the surge of BEV sales, reaching 61,958 in October which is up 81.6% over October 2025 for a 41.5% share, just below the record 41.7% reached last month and to be compared with 24.4% a year ago and 15.4% two years ago. Year-to-date, BEVs are up 79.2% to 449,303 and 32.5% share vs. 18.9% over the same period in 2025 and 17% in 2024.

The BYD Atto 2 surges to #11 overall in October.

Looking at the brands ranking, Renault (+4.2%) trails the market but is still up year-on-year at 17.4% share, in line with the 17.2% it commands year-to-date. Peugeot (-2%) disappoints again at 12.3% of the market, well below the already weak 13% it holds so far this year. Citroen (+11.4%) is in great shape, staying at #3 which is a ranking it now also holds year-to-date, overtaking a struggling Dacia (-23.8%) down to #5 for the month. Toyota (-3.1%) is up two spots on September to snap the 4th place overall and stay at #5 year-to-date ahead of Volkswagen (-13.3%). BMW surges 20.2% to #7, passing Skoda (+4.1%) at #8. BYD (+345.5%) is estimated to climb to a record 9th place overall, the Chinese carmaker’s first ever incursion inside the French Top 10. MG (+46.8%) should also secure a spot in the Top 10 at #10. Tesla (+35.2%), Fiat (+28.8%) and Kia (+21.3%) shine below just as newcomer Jaecoo pushes forward to a new all time high 17th place with 1.9% share.

First Top 20 finish for the Renault 4 at home.

Model-wise, the Peugeot 208 (+0.4%) is stable at #1, followed by the Citroen C3 (+32.5%), at its highest since last February when it won the race. The Renault Clio VI confirms it is now a step below the previous generation’s level at just 3.5% share, remaining at #4 year-to-date. It appears Renault customers are increasingly attracted to the brand’s BEV offerings: the Twingo IV is up a further three spots on September to a record 4th place, even outselling the superstar Renault 5 (+2.5%) to become the country’s best-selling BEV for the first time. Twingo and R5 sales account for almost double the Clio VI volume this month. Add to this a record showing by the Renault 4 (+48.7%) breaking into its home Top 20 for the first time at #17 (previous best #26 in November 2025). The other big event this month is the BYD Atto 2 (+3782%) stopping just short of a spectacular Top 10 finish at #11. Successful newcomers include the Jaecoo 7 up 10 spots on last month to #23 and the Kia EV2 up five to #24.

Full brands and models data will be uploaded to this article when made available to us. 

Previous month: France September 2026: Tesla Model Y, Renault 5, Twingo lift EV sales up 108.1% to record 41.7% share

One year ago: France October 2025: Renault 5 smashes share record, BEVs at 24.4% share

Full October 2026 Top 20 brands and Top 50 models below.

France October 2026 – brands:

PosBrandOct-26%/25Sep2026%/25PosFY251Renault   25,93617.4%+ 4.2%1238,44817.2%+ 3.4%112Peugeot  18,42012.3%– 2.0%2179,71413.0%– 4.9%223Citroen  11,1447.5%+ 11.4%3105,0707.6%+ 9.7%344Toyota9,0216.0%– 3.1%686,0816.2%– 4.6%565Volkswagen8,4125.6%– 13.3%784,5906.1%– 4.4%656Dacia  8,3385.6%– 23.8%4104,7427.6%– 12.0%437BMW  5,3703.6%+ 20.2%947,4733.4%+ 0.5%878Skoda  4,7703.2%+ 4.1%844,1153.2%+ 8.7%989BYD (e)4,5443.0%+ 345.5%1127,2102.0%+ 176.5%162410MG (e)4,4733.0%+ 46.8%1230,0152.2%+ 25.7%131411Mercedes  4,2232.8%+ 14.9%1034,2622.5%+ 0.8%111112Kia  3,9432.6%+ 21.3%1329,8982.2%+ 8.6%141313Hyundai3,9232.6%+ 0.6%1530,8092.2%– 13.0%121014Audi  3,0502.0%– 29.7%1435,9862.6%– 4.8%10915Nissan  2,9262.0%+ 13.8%2121,2381.5%– 3.6%191616Ford  2,9011.9%+ 1.4%1725,9671.9%– 16.6%181217Jaecoo2,8651.9%new1812,4830.9%new236218Fiat  2,7521.8%+ 28.8%1626,8891.9%+ 62.8%172019Mini2,5511.7%+ 8.9%2021,0641.5%+ 0.9%201720Tesla2,4101.6%+ 35.2%547,6093.4%+ 117.1%718

France October 2026 – models:

PosModelOct-26%/25Sep2026%/25PosFY251Peugeot 2087,6135.1%+ 0.4%264,1284.6%+ 3.3%122Citroen C36,4114.3%+ 32.5%348,7853.5%+ 4.3%343Renault Clio VI5,2513.5%+ 6901.3%443,9443.2%+ 54830.0%41414Renault Twingo IV4,7473.2%new719,2261.4%new183445Renault 54,6663.1%+ 2.5%536,6622.6%+ 39.5%776Dacia Sandero4,2182.8%– 22.3%650,7073.7%– 7.3%237Peugeot 30083,6662.5%+ 51.2%930,1722.2%– 9.8%868Peugeot 20083,4732.3%– 35.3%841,1723.0%– 11.3%559Toyota Yaris Cross3,1822.1%+ 47.8%1624,6461.8%– 7.0%101110Renault Scenic V3,0372.0%+ 81.9%1023,5591.7%+ 88.2%142211BYD Atto 22,3681.6%+ 3782.0%269,8160.7%+ 1817.2%3520012Toyota Yaris2,2651.5%– 27.3%1424,1601.7%– 8.7%121013Citroen C3 Aircross II2,2051.5%– 25.9%1225,1221.8%+ 98.8%91814Dacia Duster III2,0181.4%– 24.5%1124,4501.8%– 25.3%11915Renault Symbioz1,9141.3%– 33.2%1521,5141.6%– 18.9%171216Renault Captur1,8131.2%– 28.7%1323,9361.7%– 23.1%13817Renault 41,7861.2%+ 48.7%329,7700.7%+ 145.4%366418Tesla Model Y1,7481.2%+ 5.3%139,5892.9%+ 128.5%61519Hyundai Kona1,7411.2%+ 63.0%2012,4930.9%+ 23.3%263720Peugeot 3081,6991.1%– 4.0%1821,5211.6%– 13.7%161321Citroen C5 Aircross II1,6691.1%+ 179.6%1717,3801.3%+ 1118.8%199922VW T-Roc II1,5811.1%+ 13075.0%3014,0741.0%+ 117183.3%2215923Jaecoo 71,5591.0%new336,3450.5%new6037324Kia EV21,5061.0%new295,4370.4%new71 –25Peugeot 5008 III1,4811.0%+ 24.9%2315,4481.1%+ 5.2%211726Nissan Qashqai1,4541.0%+ 20.6%5011,0970.8%+ 8.4%313027Mini Hatch1,4271.0%+ 19.2%3411,0590.8%+ 4.2%323528BMW iX11,4120.9%+ 73.9%648,9480.6%+ 32.2%404729Jaecoo 51,3060.9%new256,1380.4%new63 –30BMW X11,2870.9%+ 67.8%379,7350.7%+ 12.9%374031VW Polo1,2230.8%– 45.6%2115,6071.1%– 15.4%201432Opel Frontera1,1770.8%+ 73.3%577,3780.5%+ 83.5%538433Fiat Grande Panda1,1100.7%+ 24.4%447,2450.5%+ 93.7%558334Renault Austral1,1010.7%– 32.8%1913,5511.0%– 16.5%241635Skoda Elroq1,0670.7%+ 19.8%2211,3860.8%+ 99.6%285836Toyota Aygo X1,0590.7%– 24.9%5611,3200.8%+ 9.8%293937Mercedes CLA1,0520.7%+ 240.5%367,5640.5%+ 234.5%5111238Kia EV41,0150.7%+ 2106.5%416,7410.5%+ 2453.4%5720239Mercedes GLC9960.7%+ 81.8%395,1670.4%+ 33.0%757740MG 39920.7%+ 26.9%428,4710.6%+ 13.2%434241Suzuki Swift9770.7%– 11.7%359,3200.7%– 12.2%393642VW Golf9720.7%– 9.7%548,7830.6%– 11.1%413243Dacia Bigster9630.6%– 41.1%3113,5971.0%+ 5.9%232144VW T-Cross9520.6%– 15.5%607,4060.5%– 32.4%523145MG ZS9510.6%– 27.6%638,4190.6%– 14.7%453446Toyota C-HR II9410.6%– 29.8%3813,2611.0%+ 10.8%252947Ford Puma9270.6%– 25.4%2710,4980.8%– 22.5%341948Mini Countryman8680.6%+ 42.8%687,1360.5%+ 21.3%566149Hyundai Tucson8630.6%– 34.8%628,7130.6%– 25.1%422350Ford Explorer8590.6%+ 213.5%985,3440.4%+ 230.1%72126

Source: PFA