* French August car sales up 7 pct

* Up 1.9 pct adjusted for same number of working days

* 110,067 new cars registered

Scrapping bonuses pushed French new passenger car sales up 7 percent in August to 110,607 units, carmakers' association CCFA said on Tuesday, while light utility vehicle sales, which are not eligible for payouts, plunged.

August 2009 had 21 working days, compared with 20 in August 2008. Adjusted for the same number of working days the passenger vehicle sales increase was 1.9 percent in the month, CCFA said.

In the first eight months of the year passenger car sales were up 1.1 percent.

Light utility vehicle sales dropped 24.9 percent year-on-year in August, and were down 23.5 percent in the first eight months.

France's scheme to encourage drivers to buy new cars by paying cash bonuses when old models are traded in for new ones may be extended beyond December, when it is due to expire, Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Tuesday. [ID:nL172192]

France's number one carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) saw a 17.3 percent increase in sales, taking its market share to 29.8 percent. Peugeot sales were up 15.8 percent and Citroen sales rose 19.1 percent.

Smaller rival Renault posted an 11.1 percent year-on-year increase in group sales, leaving it with a market share of 24.1 percent, with sales from its Romania-based Dacia brand -- which makes the low-cost Logan model -- up 62.1 percent and Renault brand sales up 3.7 percent.

For a global autos wrap please click on [ID:nL1586698]

(Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; Additional Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Marie Maitre)