By Nadya Masidlover and Sam Schechner
PARIS--Registrations of new cars in France dropped 15% on year
in January, as the automobile market continues to face an
increasingly gloomy outlook, according to the latest data released
Friday by the French automobile manufacturers' association.
The declines in France come amid a deep decline for the European
automobile business. Demand for new cars in the European Union last
year was at its lowest level since 1995, according to the European
Automobile Manufacturers' Association.
The pain has been especially intense for French carmakers PSA
Peugeot-Citroen and Renault SA, whose production is concentrated in
the mass-market segments where car sales are hurting the most. To
respond, Peugeot is planning to shut a major factory north of Paris
and to shed 8,000 jobs.
In January, the two brands of the Renault SA (RNO.FR) group
registered a 7.4% drop in its new car registrations in France in
January. Renault's low-budget Dacia subsidiary continued to benefit
from the tightening purse strings of French households, as
registrations rose 9.9% on-year.
Local rival PSA Peugeot-Citroen (UG.FR) posted a 16.7% fall in
its registrations in January.
Foreign car makers also saw registrations of new cars dropping,
with Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) reporting a 24% fall in
January.
The association also said that combined registrations of cars
and light trucks fell 14%.
French automobile industry analysts don't expect any recovery in
the local market this year. The European market is generally
expected to be down between 2% and 4% with no let-up likely in the
persistent economic malaise.
Write to Nadya Masidlover at nadya.masidlover@dowjones.com