Sales declined by 13 per cent in the first half of 2012 for PSA Peugeot Citroën. The French car maker sold 1,619,000 units of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles worldwide, compared to 1,860,000 units for the same period last year.

The company’s European market was down by 10 per cent, largely due to the unfavourable country mix. Demand for cars and light commercial vehicles declined over the period by a steep 7.2 per cent in Europe. The Italian market declined by 21.5 per cent; the French by 13.3 per cent; the Spanish by 10.2 per cent and the central and eastern European markets by 1.6 per cent.

The company’s German and the UK market, however, improved by 0.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. 

Frédéric Saint-Geours, executive vice-president of brands at PSA Peugeot Citroën, said:

In a very tight automotive market environment in Europe, our strategy of moving upmarket and globalising our operations is proving to be more relevant than ever.

With our recent model introductions – the Peugeot 208, the Citroën DS5 and the diesel hybrid versions of the Peugeot 3008 and 508 and the Citroën DS5 – and the launches scheduled over the rest of the year – the Peugeot 301, the Citroën C-Elysée and C4L, as well as the new C3 in Latin America – we have the vehicles to defend our positions in Europe and to pursue our expansion in emerging markets.

As well as launching new models, the group vehicles emitted less than 110g CO2/km during the first half of the year.