New passenger car sales in France jumped 62.4pc to 168.290 units in September compared with the prior month, according to the latest data published by Comité des Constructeurs Français d’Automobiles (CCFA) on October 1.
While new vehicle registrations recovered in September as private buyers returned from annual vacations, volumes were 3pc below levels recorded in the same month last year or 7.4pc lower when adjusted for the number of selling days.
Domestic passenger car sales appear to have fizzled out following the end to a government-backed scrappage scheme on July 31 and the introduction of a much more scaled back version of the programme.
At the same time, a resurgent local outbreak of COVID-19 will no doubt weigh on sales as private buyers maintain social distance and put off purchases given economic and employment uncertainty caused by restrictions on movement.