New models help boost French car sales

Press, 12 August 1982, Page 28

New models help boost French car sales

The French automobile industry appears-to have overcome’ the severe crisis that hit it in 1981, if production for the first quarter of 1982 is any indication. Compared with the corresponding period in 1981, production was up by 17 per cent. Talbot, which was harder hit than the other French car-makers, doubled its March sales this year compared with last year’s. The improvement of the economic situation in the French automobile industry is remarkable because it is in marked contrast to the situation confronting car manufacturers at international level. Production and sales for most competitors in the Common Market are marking time. In the' United States, the Detroit factories are producing 20 to 30 per cent fewer cars than they were last year and even in Japan production is said to be drifting slightly downwards. Trade sources claim that the improvement in French car sales is due to the

appearance of new models which have been welcomed in the domestic and export markets. The new Renault 9, for example, is a car aimed at the world market. At present it is being built in the modern and highly-auto-mated Douai factory, but soon production will begin in American Motors plants in the United States. Renault is the major shareholder in American Motors. Other .French cars are making their mark also. The Talbot Samba, a minica'r, is enjoying great success because it is a car for the times, simply and sensibly designed, and a real petrol miser. Then there is the new Peugeot; 505, a car in the medium-class category, but one that is regarded as in the luxury class in most export markets.

, Citroen, one of the older French manufacturers and a .recognised innovator in the ■car-making industry, seemed ;to have fallen on hard times in receht years, but. now .-appears' to be making a

comeback with the Visa, a small car which was. initially, a failure. Most car manufacturers prefer to cut their losses when they produce a lemon. Not Citroen. Instead, the Visa was taken back to the drawing board and revamped to become one of France's better sellers.

The recovery of the French automobile industry is also due to the ageing of the cars in stock, because of the earlier slump. It has also resulted from the French Government's policy of encouraging consumers to buy goods that have been designed to last. That policy has now been in vogue for well-nigh 18 months. Also, as is the case in this country and elsewhere, continuing inflation in France is encouraging people to buy now rather than save.

Firbt to acknowledge the fact that one swallow does not a summer bring, the French automobile industry, although heartened by the encouraging start to 1982, is anxiously awaiting the

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

results for the second and third quarters. However, Renault is optimistic and is forecasting 1982 will be a good year. The industry as a whole believes that 1982 production will equal that of 1979, which was the. best year prior to last year’s slump. In that year France produced 2,292,000 motor vehicles, of which 1,873,000 were passenger cars.