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Not surprisingly, a French colleague got very defensive about French cars when we were rubbishing them in the office one day. Although she drove a Seat.
SIL lives in France. In rural France you drive french cars because they're easier for spares and repair. The French keep cars running forever and second hand cars sell for unbelievable money compared to the UK.
I think Nissan are tied up with Renault so lots of Nissans about as well.
According to this months Car magazine the UK is currently second in Western Europe for car production
And what did we build?
Mostly other people's cars, it seems...
I've driven loads of French cars, and owned a few too.
I think they've lost their way a bit, and gone too bland/normal - although maybe every manufacturer has?
Anyway, ones that were good, were very good:
Xantia TD (company car), 160k in 4 years - servicing/tyres plus one suspension unit
309GTI, 100k in 4 years - only real problem was having to replace the rear brake pipes
405Mi16, bought as a run-around with 90k on, sold at 160k and then it went past 200k before been totalled.
BX 16 valve (company car), bloody quick and no trouble at all
A few years back I found myself needing some cheap transport (budget £1.5K) and preferably diesel. I looked at all the usual (for me) cars, and then chanced on a Pug 206HDI (2 litre) SW.
Its honestly one of the best cars I've ever owned, and I miss it. Had done about 140K miles, and although the rear suspension was getting a bit aged, it still handled perfectly and was a hoot to drive, with just the right amount of power and grip. And I could get 2 MTBs in the back, back seats down, wheels off, upside down.
I'd gladly have another and drop in a new rear axle, the easiest way to sort the rear out. It looked good too.
One of my favourite cars I had was Pug 405 est non turbo diesel in bright red, no luxuries other than a heater. Only broke down once when the glow plugs went. It never did less than 50mpg regardless of how I drove it. I gave it a hard life but maintained it well too but then suddenly the body work started to rust away and lots of welding was done the heater matrix went and it was uneconomical to repair. On the back of that I bought a 406 which was one of most comfortable cars I had but was plagued with electrical problems. A botched major service by the dealers caused no end of problems that I ended up fixing myself and started me on servicing my own cars. The final straw was when the auto gearbox went and it became uneconomical to repair.
A Nissan Primera followed that was written off within days of owning when in stationery traffic a women driver ploughed into a car 3 vehicles back shunting everyone forward and me into oncoming traffic. Mondeo's followed and have been 100% reliable and a favourite exceeding the Pug 405. I recently had a top spec 507 diesel estate courtesy car and it was the most awfull, dull car I have every driven and would never consider a Pug again on the back of that car.