New car sales continued their slight rebound in November, for the fourth straight month, and are expected to be close to full-year 2021 figures, according to data released Thursday by the Platform for Automotive (PFA). With 133,961 registrations, the French market is growing by 9.81% compared to November 2021, but still far from the more than 160,000 vehicles sold before the pandemic, in November 2019.
Electric cars represented 15% of sales and plug-in hybrids 9%. In the first eleven months of 2022, the market falls by 8.65% compared to the same period in 2021. The best-selling model continues to be the Peugeot 208, well ahead of the Renault Clio, Dacia Sandero and Citroën C3.
Priority is maintained with models of higher categories
Crippled at the start of the year by a shortage of electronic chips, automakers have been able to ramp up sales since late summer. “It’s quite positive,” explained François Roudier of the PFA, although the figures show that brands still give priority to certain models in the higher categories, due to a lack of chips in sufficient numbers.
“We are going towards a market somewhat similar to that of 2021”, according to François Roudier. “It is possible that there will be more deliveries in December if the problems related to the trucks (for example, due to the shortage of drivers) calm down,” he said.
Growth driven by Volkswagen and Toyota
Both Stellantis and Renault were held back in November by chip shortages, among other issues. The French #1 Stellantis posted a 5.22% drop in sales for a year, with almost 39,000 new vehicles sold. A slight rise in Peugeot during the month did not offset the falls in Citroën, Opel and Fiat. The Renault group fell 2.44% to less than 30,000 units.
The growth for the month is mainly driven by the Volkswagen group with close to 18,000 cars sold (+24.08%), particularly in its main brand. Toyota posted a strong increase (10,000, +41.34%), ahead of BMW-Mini (7,000, +22.69%).
Source: BFM TV
