A glimmer of hope that the European car market is stabilizing might be seen in the fact that for the first time in nearly two years, French car sales were up in July.

Car registrations were up 0.9% to 150,248 for the month, with French brands Renault and the financially troubled PSA/Peugeot-Citroen group up. Recent model launches and dealer discounts are attributed for the gains. Overall sales, though, still reflect the soft European market. Toyota was up 24%, and while Renault, Peugeot, Fiat, Hyundai and BMW also posted gains, VW Group, Opel, Ford, and Kia were down from last year.

For domestic French brands, Peugeot was up 4.6%, Citroen was down 3.2% and Renault, helped by its new Captur subcompact SUV and a 6.1% increase of the low-cost Dacia brand, was up 4.7% overall, +4.2% on Renault branded cars. Mercedes-Benz was down in the wake of its continuing dispute with French authorities over Mercedes-Benz’s refusal to use R1234yf refrigerant. Audi sales were unchanged.

CCFA sales report (PDF, French) here.