New car registrations in France rose by 3.92% in July. The recovery trend continues as dealerships resumed their activities after closing their doors because of the lockdown measures imposed in response to the coronavirus Covid-19.

There were 178,981 new car registrations in France last month, the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA) announced on Saturday. July saw 22 working days this year, compared to 23 last year.

In June, the market had enjoyed its first year-to-date increase at +1.24%, following a 50.34% plunge in May.

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Overall, new vehicle sales were down 33.16% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2020.

New car registrations of the PSA Group, which includes the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands, fell last month by 5.33% compared with the same period in 2019.

The Renault group (brands Renault, Dacia and Alpine), weakened last year by the troubles of its partner Nissan and by the downturn in several emerging markets that contributed to its success, saw its registrations in France increase by 32.60% in July.