PEUGEOT, CITROËN INCREASE SALES IN FIRST HALF

France’s PSA group, which runs the Peugeot and Citroën brands, saw a boost in sales of up to 1.86 million cars during the first half of 2011. That is a percentage increase of some 0.2% to maintain a 13.9% market share in Europe. Leading markets include home turf France, Germany and Eastern Europe, which all saw an upswing in sales.

Russia for instance, sold 22 065 Peugeots and 13 334 units of Citroën cars during the first half of 2011. China (duh) also saw sales of 80 893 and 113 673 cars from the two brands respectively, significantly up from last year’s figures. At the same time, markets such as Spain, Italy and the UK saw declines.

Fresh products such as the DS3, 3008, the upcoming DS4 and 508 are contributing quite nicely to this growth. The 508, expected in Mzansi later this year, has already attracted about 45 000 orders globally.