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New incentives for automotive industry in France.

The French government will launch mid-February a new plan to boost sales of new cars, similar to a program that ended in 2009. This is a response to the very weak December sales, in particular for French manufacturers, who saw their sales decline significantly.

The announcement was made by Industry Minister Eric Besson. "The government is on the side of the automotive industry and its employees to cope with a market that has temporary difficulties, said in a statement.

In December 2011, new car registrations were 15 percent less than than last year, for a total of 226,885, according to a press release issued Monday by the French association of car manufacturers.

These figures show that French carmakers perform considerably worse than the general market trend. PSA Peugeot Citroën sold 29 percent less new cars. Renault saw sales fall by 28 percent.

The support of the French government is not new. Two years ago, the auto industry already helped so-called scrap schemes, which were also applied in the UK and the U.S.

The official explanation for that measure was that when older cars had more toxic emissions, and that the newer and more fuel efficient cars would be better for the environment. However,  the main reason is thought to be to support a suffering industry .

The car manufacturers have enabled to boost their sales thanks to the government aid. Two years later, however, no proof of a structural solution have been seen.