PSA continues to drive down the corporate CO2 levels, taking back the crown for reducing emissions.

PSA Peugeot Citroën recaptured its first place standing in reducing emissions at end 2014 in Europe, with an average of 110.3 grams of CO₂ per kilometre* (source: AAA DATA), compared with an average of 123.7 grams for the European market. Since 2008, the Group has gradually lowered its vehicle emissions by about 30 grams.

The new record illustrates PSA Peugeot Citroën's commitment to finding practical solutions to environmental problems. More than 50% of its R&D budget is devoted to developing technologies aimed at improving the fuel and environmental performance of its vehicles.

PSA Peugeot Citroën's top ranking is primarily the result of its engine downsizing strategy and the introduction of new PureTech 3-cylinder petrol engines, as well as the introduction of new-generation, fuel-efficient BlueHDi diesel engines. In 2014, nearly 30% of vehicles sold by the Group emitted less than 100 grams of CO₂.

Paired with these highly efficient petrol and diesel engines, many Group models are low-carbon leaders in their category. Due to the fact that they represent a significant proportion of European sales, they contribute to an overall reduction in emissions.

The following models are examples of low-carbon leader vehicles:

• Citroën C4 Cactus, 1.6-litre BlueHDi, 100 hp, 82 grams of CO₂ per kilometre
• Citroën DS 3, 1.6-litre BlueHDi, 100 hp, 79 grams of CO₂ per kilometre
• Peugeot 308, PureTech 1.2-litre, 130 hp, 107 grams of CO₂ per kilometre. 

This petrol version also set a new fuel economy record of 2.85 litres per 100 kilometres, covering 1,810 kilometres on a 51-litre tank of fuel.

The recent Peugeot 308 and Citroën C4 Picasso models (built on the new EMP2 platform) and the Citroën C4 Cactus (launched in 2014) weigh significantly less than their predecessors, by 140 kilograms and 200 kilograms, respectively, which is a key factor in reducing emissions.

"The outstanding reduction in CO₂ emissions is the fruit of PSA Peugeot Citroën's advanced petrol and diesel engine technologies but also of its ongoing research to make lighter, more aerodynamic cars," said Gilles Le Borgne, Executive Vice President, Research and Development, PSA Peugeot Citroën. "The Group continues to invest heavily in research and innovation, particularly in the field of plug-in hybrid technologies and new-generation electric vehicles".

*Average homologated NEDC combined-cycle CO₂ emissions of PSA Peugeot Citroën passenger cars registered in 2014 across 22 EU nations (excluding Greece, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta).

1955-2015: DS celebrates it's 60th Anniversary at Retromobile.

In its first year as a brand in its own right, DS will be at the 40th Rétromobile show in Paris next week, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the original 1955 DS. From 4 to 8 February 2015, car lovers can enjoy a stroll around the DS area at the Parisian Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre for an enthralling look back at the legendary DS. The DS exhibition, organised with support from the Amicales Citroën* associations along with DS and SM** enthusiasts' clubs, will include five prestige period models, plus one of the latest arrivals for the DS brand, DS 3 Cabrio, in Ultra Prestige form.

The Rétromobile show in Paris is a major international fixture on the vintage car calendar. The event celebrates its 40^th anniversary as the original DS marks 60 years since its début appearance at the 1955 Paris Motor Show.

In its first year as a brand in its own right, DS has an area at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Centre, providing an enthralling look back at the legend that is DS. The DS exhibition, organised with invaluable support from Citroën enthusiasts' clubs, will feature five period models plus one of the latest arrivals in the DS brand line-up, DS 3 Cabrio Ultra Prestige.

The period cars on show will provide visitors with an insight into the exceptional heritage that inspires today's DS brand in its quest to offer customers the very best in design, technology, comfort, driving experience, quality materials and outstanding attention to detail.

The stars of the show are:

• DS 19 from 1959, in its original configuration, with a grey-rosé body, aubergine roof, and royal blue interior. This model, adapted for export to Germany, features an engine temperature gauge on the dashboard plus an FM/LW radio. The three-main-bearing engine is coupled with a four-speed gearbox with hydraulic control.
• DS 21 Cabriolet from 1968, with a hydraulic-control gearbox. The superb finish on this exceptionally elegant model extends to red leather upholstery, contrasting with the Carrare white body.
• DS 20 Pallas from 1973, a top-end luxury model featuring tobacco leather upholstery, beige Tholonet bodywork, tinted windows and even a sunroof. The 1985 cm³  engine is mated to a hydraulically controlled four-speed synchromesh gearbox.
• SM Coupé from 1971, previously owned by King Hassan II of Morocco. This model features metallic beige paintwork, special registration plates, natural leather upholstery, air conditioning, a Continental Edison Hi-Fi radio specific to this model, tinted windows and fog lamps. The engine is a Maserati V6.
• SM Coupé from 1972, a model with a Scarabée brown body and light brown upholstery. In addition to the self-levelling hydraulic suspension, similar to that on the DS, this car also boasts Citroën's innovative DIRAVI ‘power-assisted return’ steering, for exceptional driveability.

Alongside these iconic cars, visitors will also be able to admire the DS 3 Cabrio Ultra Prestige on the show stand.

Rétromobile opens to the public on Wednesday 4 February 2015, with the DS showroom in Hall 1.

*The Amicales Citroën organisations comprise L’Amicale des Clubs Citroën France and L’Amicale Citroën Internationale, associations whose mission is to coordinate the operations of enthusiasts' clubs with the Citroën and DS brands.

**The clubs contributing to Rétromobile 2015 are: DS ID Club de France, Idéale DS France, DS Club Révolution 55, Le Monde de la DS, SM Club de France, Euro SM Club, and Club automobile André Citroën.

Top 20 best sellers for 2014 in France, Surprise surprise, most are French.

The Renault Clio and Peugeot 208 remained the top-selling car models in France during 2014. The Captur and 308 were also favorites of French car buyers. In a flat car market, the Fiat 500 was the only truly new model on the top-twenty list of best-selling car models in France in 2014. No foreign brands were among the top ten most-popular car models in France.

Top 20 Car Models in France in 2014

The twenty most popular car models in France in 2014 according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the CCFA were:

Position 2014	Position 2013	Car Make & Model	Cars Sold in 2014	Cars Sold in 2013
1	1	Renault Clio IV	105,182	103,172
2	2	Peugeot 208	83,965	90,484
3	7	Renault Captur	62,985	39,629
4	33	Peugeot 308 II	60,842	13,402
5	3	Citroen C3 II	59,627	53,376
6	15	Peugeot 2008	54,161	28,012
7	4	Renault Scenic III	49,068	50,968
8	21	Citroen C4 II Picasso	45,339	23,474
9	5	Renault Megane III	44,791	43,070
10	6	Dacia Sandero	44,357	42,841
11	8	Volkswagen Polo	40,407	39,068
12	18	Dacia Duster	40,167	25,879
13	10	Peugeot 3008	37,970	38,427
14	12	Volkswagen Golf VII	37,131	35,148
15	14	Nissan Qashqai	30,024	28,379
16	9	Renault Twingo II	27,452	39,032
17	13	Toyota Yaris	27,234	29,207
18	11	Citroen C4 II	26,158	36,244
19	17	Ford Fiesta	24,916	26,118
20	28	Fiat 500	22,099	19,006

Source: CCFA / AA Data

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars in France in 2014

The list of the top 10 most popular car models in France in 2014 was once again led by the Renault Clio and Peugeot 208. These were also the only two car models that managed to maintain their exact rank positions from a year ago.

The Renault Clio IV has been France’s top-selling car model since its launch in 2012. In 2014, Clio sales in France increased by just over 2,000 cars compared to a year ago.

The Peugeot 208 has been the second most-popular car model in France since its full year in production in 2013. In contrast to the Clio, sales of the small Peugeot were down nearly 6,000 cars compared to a year ago.

Sales of the Renault Captur increased sharply in 2014 making it France’s third best-selling car compared to seventh a year ago.

The Peugeot 308 II shot up from 33rd to 4th but this is largely due to the practice in France of listing cars according to the model and not just the model name. A year ago, the Peugeot 308 was the 7th most popular car model and when sales of the 308 and 308 II were added together, the model would have been in fourth place overall.

Although sales of the Citroen C3 were higher in 2014 than a year ago, the model slipped two places from third to fifth.

The Peugeot 2008 continued to improve and with almost double the sales from a year ago entered the top 10 list at sixth place from 15th a year ago.

Sales of the Renault Scenic were flat but the model dropped three places from 4th to 7th.

The Citroen C4 Picasso entered the top 10 list at 8th from 21st a year ago but this is again largely due to a new model being counted separately from it predecessor a year ago.

Although sales of the Renault Megane were stronger in 2014, the model slipped to 9th from 5th a year ago. In 2012, the Megane was the second most-popular car model in France, missing out on the top slot by only a few hundred units.

The Dacia Sandero similarly slipped four positions from a year ago despite selling more cars in 2014 than in 2013.

Top 20 Most-Popular Car Models in France in 2014

The VW Polo was again the best-selling foreign branded car model in France in 2014. However, the Polo slipped out of the top-ten list, where it has been the 8th most-popular car model for the previous two years.

The Dacia Duster saw sales increased strongly allowing it to move up from 18th to 12th most-popular car in France in 2014; a position it also held in 2012.

Despite sales slipping only marginally, the Peugeot 3008 has slipped out of the top 10 list in 2014 – it was 10th in 2013 and 9th in 2012.

Sales of the Volkswagen Golf – Europe’s favorite car model – continued to increase in France in 2014. However, the Golf lost two rank places from a year ago.

The Nissan Qasqai – the most popular Japanese car in France in 2014 – similarly slipped one position despite stronger sales.

The Renault Twingo II slipped from 9th a year ago to 16th largely due to a model change. The Twingo III has been selling well since its launch towards the end of 2014 and is the car most likely to reenter the top-ten list next year.

The Toyota Yaris, Citroen C4 and Ford Fiesta all had weaker sales in France in 2014 and all lost rank position but remained amongst the top 20 most popular cars in France.

The Fiat 500 was the only truly new model on the top-20 list – up from 28th a year ago. It replaced the DS3 that slipped to 24th.

The other two top-20 cars from a 2013 no longer on the list are the Peugeot 207 and Peugeot 208 – both cars were replaced by new models.

Peugeot, Citroen and DS perform exceptionally in China during 2014, 2015 should be better still.

PSA Peugeot Citroen's sales in China jumped 32 percent to 734,000 vehicles last year, a sign that mass-market producers were outperforming premium brands in the country.

PSA said China has become its largest market, thanks to the addition of 100 dealerships and new models such as the Peugeot 3008 crossover. PSA's China market share rose to 4.4 percent, up from 3.6 percent in 2013.

China is a key part of company CEO Carlos Tavares' turnaround plan after the French state and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp. each took 14 percent stakes in the company as part of a 3 billion euro (22 billion yuan) bailout last year.

Cars sales in China, the world's largest car market, have slowed from 14 percent growth to 7 percent in the past year.

But PSA sales data suggest mass carmakers may be taking less of a hit than premium brands such as BMW, which faces demands for rebates from dealers unhappy with the level of inventory.

BMW Group sales in mainland China grew 17 percent last year, with a total of 455,979 BMW and Mini vehicles delivered to customers.

"We prefer mass over premium exposure in China in 2015," Stuart Pearson, an autos analyst at Exane BNP Paribas wrote in a note to investors. "While growth in financial services should support the overall market, we fear that the 1 million plus units of new premium capacity added over 2014-15 will continue to pile pressure on pricing."

For the industry as a whole, the slowdown in sales was most marked in the fourth quarter, but PSA China sales are estimated to have been up 28 percent in that period, Pearson said.

By contrast, BMW this week said it would have lower single-digit growth in the region in 2015. 

China's vehicle market may grow 7 percent in 2015, matching last year's level, although just half the pace of 2013 as the economy slows, an industry group said this week.

China sales are critical for the earnings of European carmakers, accounting for more than half of global earnings for each of the German manufacturers in 2014, analysts at Bernstein Research wrote in a note, adding that Volkswagen could be a beneficiary while BMW may be losing momentum.

"Recent management changes suggest [BMW] CEO Norbert Reithofer felt it was a good time to bow out on a high. At the risk of sounding too cynical, it could be argued that investors would be well advised to follow his lead," Bernstein wrote.

China now contributes more than 500 million euros to PSA's 2014 group profits, Bernstein wrote. 

PSA made a net loss of 2.3 billion euros in 2013 and said after its rescue last year it might not return to positive cash flow until 2016.

Peugeot Citroen (PSA) celebrate a successful year around the globe.

• PSA Peugeot Citroën unit sales up 4.3% to 2,939 million vehicles in 2014 compared to 2013
• China now the Group’s largest market, with unit sales up 31.9% to 734,000
• Strong growth in Europe,with 1,761,000 vehicles sold, for an increase of 8.1%
• Worldwide success for the entire PEUGEOT product range: globalisation of models that end in 8 and successful move upmarket with a strong contribution from the PEUGEOT 308 and the PEUGEOT 2008 and 3008 crossovers
• Good performance from CITROËN-brand models: the new CITROËN C4 Picasso is the European leader in the MPV segment, the CITROËN C4 Cactus has exceeded objectives since launch and the C-Elysée has been resounding success in China, where it is Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile’s (DPCA’s) best-selling model with more than 100,000 units sold
• Global launch of DS as the Group’s premium brand
• Tangible results from the Group’s inventory reduction initiatives, with inventories at end-December significantly lower than initially expected

Europe

The Group sustained its results in a growing, yet fragile market.

• Group sales in Europe rose 8.1% year-on-year to 1,761,000 units, reflecting the favourable market reaction to the Peugeot 308, voted 2014 car of the year (56,900 units sold), and the positive results of the CITROEN C4 Cactus.
• Registrations of PEUGEOT-brand vehicles increased by 6.2% to 952,000 units. The range’s updated and consistent model line-up, combined with the dealership network’s management of net pricing and a high standard of service quality enhanced the brand’s attractiveness and helped it deliver robust, profitable growth. Peugeot gained 0.3 points in the consumer sales channel, a benchmark indicator.
• CITROËN outperformed the market while focusing on the most profitable distribution channels, with registrations up 7.2% to 689,000 units and market share gains in France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. This positive momentum was driven by the brand’s successful product offensive, headed in particular by the new C4 Picasso, the European MPV leader with 120,000 units sold in 2014, and the year’s three successful model launches: the new Jumper introduced in April (31,000 units sold), the new C1 (41,000 units sold) and the C4-Cactusintroduced in June (42,000 units sold).
• DS registrations in Europe totalled 85,900 units. The brand is concentrating on profitable sales channels to preserve its models’ long-term resale value. In addition, 61 dedicated points of sale (58 DS Salons and three DS Stores) have been opened. The year was shaped by a technological offensive that included the introduction of six new powertrains and a new Xenon Full-LED signature.

China and Southeast Asia

The PEUGEOT, CITROËN and DS brands all set new sales records in China, which is now the Group's largest market.

• The Chinese market again expanded significantly, with demand up 11,5%. The Group achieved unit sales of 734,000, lifting its market share to 4.4% from 3.6% in 2013.
• The PEUGEOT brand had another record year with unit sales rising 43.1% to 386,565, the strongest increase among the market’s top 20 players.The PEUGEOT 3008 and 2008 fully benefited from growth in the SUV segment and accounted for a third of Dongfeng Peugeot’s sales. In the C segment, which represents 52% of the Chinese passenger car market, the new Peugeot 408 got off to a quick start with 30,943 units sold in four months. The brand also added 100 dealerships to its network in 2014.
• CITROËN also outpaced the market, setting a new sales record with growth of 14.3% to 320,000 units sold. China now accounts for more than one out of four CITROËN sold worldwide and has confirmed its status as the brand’s leading market, ahead of France. This performance was driven in part by the success of recent launches, including the new CITROËN C-Elysée, Dongfeng Citroën’s best-selling model with more than 100,000 units sold in 2014, and the Citroën C4-L, which sold 66,000 units during the year.The brand extended its line-up in December with the introduction of the C3-XR SUV. The year’s performance was also supported by Dongfeng Citroën’s increasingly tight-knit and well-respected dealership network, which ranked first in JD Power’s 2014 China Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) study.
• Sales of DS-brand models have taken off in China, for a total of 26,000 units in 2014, thanks to a premium line-up comprising three models produced in Shenzhen and launched just one year ago: the DS5, the DS 5LS and the DS 6.  At the same time, the brand has actively developed its distribution network with 80 DS Stores covering China's 60 largest cities. China now accounts for 22% of the brand’s worldwide registrations, versus 2% in 2013.

Eurasia, Latin America, Middle-East & Africa, Asia-Pacific

In the rest of the world, the market environment was difficult in 2014 due to a decline in automobile sales and unfavourable exchange rates.As a result, PSA Peugeot Citroën focused on profitability by applying a rigorous pricing policy.

• In Eurasia, the Group put an emphasis on local production of the PEUGEOT 408 and the CITROËN C4 Sedan, which together captured 8% of their segment in Russia with 6,500 and 9,000 units sold, respectively.
• In Latin America, in a difficult economic environment, the Group recorded 200,000 units sold and strengthened its position in Argentina, achieving a market share in that country of 15.1%. Recent launches delivered results, with 49,000 units sold for the PEUGEOT 208 and more than 13,000 units sold for the CITROËN C4 Lounge. Sales of the Citroën C3 held up well, at 35,300 units.
• In the Middle-East & Africa, priority was given to improving profitability in an unfavourable currency environment. The Group maintained strong positions in numerous countries, leading the market in Tunisia and France's overseas departments and ranking second in Morocco. Peugeot was the second best-selling brand in Algeria and achieved strong growth in Egypt, with unit sales up 77%.

The PEUGEOT 301 and CITROËN C-Elysée were again the leading models in 2014, with 30,400 and 14,800 units sold, respectively.Launched during the course of the year, the flagship PEUGEOT 2008 and PEUGEOT 308 achieved unit sales of 8,400 for the first and 7,400 for the second. Sales of light commercial vehicles increased year on year.

• The India-Pacific region saw an increase in sales with the successful launches of the PEUGEOT 2008 (1,000 orders in 3 months), the PEUGEOT 308 (3,200 units sold) and the CITROËN C4 Picasso (1,450 units sold).

Commenting on these results, the Chief Executive Officers of the three brands made the following remarks:

Maxime Picat, Chief Executive Officer, PEUGEOT Brand: “In terms of sales, 2014 was a year of success for PEUGEOT, with a 5.4% increase in worldwide unit sales and remarkable growth of more than 43% in China. It was also a success for our drive to globalise models that end in 8, as seen in strong demand for the 308 and the 2008 and 3008 crossovers. This situation allows us to look towards 2015 with confidence.”

Linda Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, CITROËN Brand: “2014 was a very vibrant year for CITROËN, with a double title in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), sales growth of 4% and four launches that embody the brand’s renewal. More than ever, CITROËN represents creativity and technology, combined to promote well-being.” 

Yves Bonnefont, Chief Executive Officer, DS Brand: “In June 2014, we affirmed our ambition to make DS a global premium brand through a long-term strategy based on enriching our line-up and deploying internationally. In 2014, DS took off in China, with the successful launch of our two new models.”