Group PSA Worldwide Sales Up 38.1% In The First Half Of 2018

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Group PSA Worldwide Sales Up 38.1% In The First Half Of 2018

Groupe PSA’s SUV offensive with 13 models launched worldwide by the five brands – Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel and Vauxhall – drove the Group’s robust sales momentum in the first half of 2018. At more than 609,300 units, SUV sales accounted for nearly 28% of the Group’s sales. The success of these models has made Groupe PSA at the end of May, number two in this segment in Europe, with a market share of 16.9%, and number one in the B-SUV segment.

Peugeot is the leading brand in the SUV segment in Europe, selling more than 339,200 SUVs worldwide (up 26%) in the first half of 2018. Since the beginning of the year, Peugeot confirms the upward trend of the PEUGEOT 3008 SUV, with 144,000 units sold (up 37%); it has also enjoyed strong demand for the new PEUGEOT 5008, which has logged 58,900 unit sales.

The Citroën SUV offensive launched last autumn is being driven by the C3 Aircross in Europe and the C5 Aircross in China, which together represented nearly 80,000 units sold in the first half of 2018, for a total of 135,000 since their launch. The launch of the C4 Aircross in China and the C5 Aircross in Europe in the second half will allow Citroën to accelerate its offensive.

Launched worldwide in February 2018, the DS 7 CROSSBACK, first DS of the second generation is key to growth at DS Automobiles, which came up to +35% in the second quarter. Two out of three customers choose the top-of-the-line versions, and while the DS 7 CROSSBACK offers premium equipment from the entry level, every second customer chooses the DS CONNECTED PILOT option, which opens the way to level 2 autonomous driving.

Excerpt from the full report: China & South East Asia: continued sales recovery…

With sales of 163,000 vehicles in China & South East Asia, up 6.9%, the Group has seen the first signs of a sales recovery. Citroën was the biggest contributor to the improvement, with sales up 50.5%, thanks to its range of sedans and the local launch of the C5 Aircross SUV last September.

The volume mix of the PEUGEOT 3008/4008/5008 SUV family is also improving, representing 40% of the brand’s total sales volumes. DS Automobiles sales are stable in the second quarter of 2018. In China, the DS 7 CROSSBACK was launched at the Beijing Motor Show in late April 2018.

During the first half, the Group made significant progress in strengthening its operations in South East Asia with the creation of a joint venture with Naza Corporation Holdings (Malaysia). The Group has sold over 4,900 vehicles in ASEAN area in the first half of this year. The acceleration in this part of the region is now noticeable.

For the FULL PSA 1st Half 2018 report, click to download this: PSA Worldwide sales up 38.1% in the first half of 2018v2

Editor Info

Chris Wee

Chris Wee has been in the motoring journalism scene since the early 90's, cutting his teeth with publications such as Highway Malaysia, Asian Auto, Auto International, and later on as Editor of Asean Autocar and Malaysian EVO, for which he was its Managing Editor for 7-years, He's also been with NST Cars, Bikes & Trucks, and started his on-line motoring career with Autofreaks.com. Piston.my may be his last stop in a motoring journalism career that spans more than two decades.