By Inti Landauro

PARIS--The French car market continued to rebound in 2016 on the back of the country's economic recovery as new-car registrations rose to a level not seen since 2011.

New-car registrations, a proxy for new-car sales, rose 5.8% to 194,388 vehicles in December, according to data from the country's car manufacturing association, CCFA. New-car registrations rose 5.1% during the year to 2.02 million, the highest level since the 2.2 million registered in 2011.

After several years of decline, France's car market notched strong growth in 2015 and the rebound continued into 2016 on increased consumer spending.

Registrations of new cars made by French manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG.FR) fell 3.5% in December while its cross-town rival Renault SA (RNO.FR) saw a 0.6% increase during the month.

Registrations of cars made by Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE), the most popular foreign maker in France, rose 18% in December as sales recovered from a decline that followed its emissions scandal.

Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 01, 2017 10:53 ET (15:53 GMT)