In Italy the market also slightly grew 0

Patrick Pelata wants to believe. "Somehow, we arrived, we believe, in the hollow of the crisis," said the Director-General delegate of Renault yesterday on RTL. After five months of uninterrupted fall, the French automobile market is in all cases stabilized in March. In raw data, sales of new passenger cars even increased by 8.1 over a year, to 204.095 vehicles, according to figures from the Committee of French automakers (CCFA). A progression that contrasts sharply with the continuous degradation registered in other countries. In Belgium, the market still declined 12 last month. In Spain, it fell by 39. To the Japan, it decreased by 31.5 excluding mini-voitures, to fall to its lowest level this month for thirty-five years.

Clearly, the French system of incentives, the premium in the case of the Government and commercial offers from manufacturers allowed the French market to keep much better than others. According to Xavier Fels, the President of the CCFA, "between 30 and 40 of registrations are related to the differential case", which allows individuals to retrieve 1,000 euros if they replace a vehicle more ten years by just another pollutant. In Italy, the market also slightly grew 0.2 new premiums. And in Germany, the number of applications for premiums case-sensitive verges million, which is almost double the forecast.

Is the hollow of the crisis to be reached It is still too early to say. The figures for March are indeed partly a sham. On the one hand, March 2009 had two working days more than March 2008. In reality, a comparable number of working days, the Habs market decreased by 1.8. On the other hand, the judgment of many chains of Assembly at the beginning of the year had disrupted deliveries of February. A part of them have been staggered in March, improving all numbers of the month.

Success of small cars

In total, throughout the first quarter, the French market remains in red, with a decrease of 3.9. Especially, the suite seems difficult to predict. "It cannot be said with certainty that this increase in March will continue," acknowledged yesterday Xavier Fels. The prospects remain gloomy in the coming months. The crisis is there.

In the immediate future, the manufacturers of small cars, those who enjoy the more government action, can relatively rejoice. They are the ones who derive their PIN of the game. In the first quarter, the cars of "economic and less" range, such as the Clio or the Polo, thus represented at they only 57 of the market, a record. An example Citroën. Its market share reached 15.3 average these last three months, "the best first quarter of the mark for thirty years." A performance related to the success of small cars C1, C2 and C3, who take advantage of the super bonus: their quarterly sales grew by 22 over a year. Fiat, with its 500, Volkswagen and Hyundai are also good scores. Renault, thanks in particular to its Twingo, displays more than the average for the month. Conversely, the specialists of large models, such as BMW or Mercedes, continue to go wrong.