French light-vehicle registrations have seen a decline in October, according to the latest data published by the French Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (CCFA). During the month, combined passenger car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations reached 188,322 units, a fall of 4.4% year on year (y/y).

French Groupe PSA sales declined -5.8% y/y in October.

The decline was not helped by one fewer working day compared with the same month a year earlier − 21 days versus 22 during October 2015 − and when this is taken in to account there was a marginal 0.2% y/y gain.

Furthermore, gains earlier in the year are still having a beneficial impact on the market and for the first 10 months of 2016, with growth now standing at 5.2% y/y to 1,990,797 units.

On a category level, passenger car registrations decreased in October, contracting by 4.0% y/y to 155,201 units. However, when the one fewer working day is taken in to account, the registrations were seen to improve by 0.5% y/y. Despite the decline in October, passenger car registrations in the year to date (YTD) were still up by 4.7% y/y to 1,657,651 units.

Groupe PSA was the leading automaker last month with registrations of 45,513 units, although it suffered a fall of 5.8% y/y. The group’s registration declines were broadly equal across the Peugeot and Citroën brands, with the former falling by 4.3% y/y to 27,094 units and the latter by 5.6% y/y to 16,646 units, respectively.

DS Automobiles also saw a fall of 25.9% y/y to 1,773 units. Renault Group recorded a fall of 9.2% y/y to 35,409 units; of these, the Dacia brand recorded an increase of 3.7% y/y to 7,603 units and the Renault brand recorded a drop of 12.2% y/y to 27,806 units.

Volkswagen (VW) Group also recorded a decline of 1.6% y/y. However, this drag was caused by SEAT, Porsche, and Audi, while the VW brand recorded an increase of 4.7% y/y to 11,679 units. Ford also recorded a downturn (-6.1% y/y, 5,741 units), as did General Motors (GM; -6.2% y/y, 4,829 units), and Nissan (-18.0% y/y, 4,263 units).

However, there was positive growth elsewhere, including Toyota (+2.8%, 6,862 units), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA; +11.1% y/y, 6,737 units), Kia (+1.1% y/y, 2,848 units), and Hyundai (+2.9% y/y, 2,394 units).

Premium OEMs were also beneficiaries of this growth, including BMW Group (+2.1% y/y, 6,725 units), Daimler (+10.8% y/y, 5,798 units), and Volvo Cars (+21.8% y/y, 1,554 units).

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations also fell in October, by 5.9% y/y to 33,121 units, and even when the one fewer working day is taken in to account, the segment was still down by 1.4% y/y. Nevertheless, its performance in the YTD remained positive, with a gain of 7.9% y/y to 333,146 units.

Looking forward to the end of the year, data analysts IHS Automotive has changed its forecast for the French market marginally. It anticipates that passenger car registrations this year will grow by just over 5.5% y/y to 2.025 million units, followed by increases to 2.065 million units during 2017 and 2.09 million units in 2018. As for LCV registrations up to 6 tonnes, IHS anticipate an increase of over 7.0% y/y to 406,000 units.