100% Electric Vehicles Now 13% Of New Car Sales In France

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Plugin vehicles continue to rise in France, with last month’s plugin vehicle registrations ending at 27,995 units, divided between 17,113 BEVs (or 13% share of the overall auto market) and 10,882 PHEVs (8% share of the auto market). The former jumped 35% year over year (YoY), while the latter were up by just 6%.

With the overall market firmly recovering, up 22% YoY, BEVs (+35% YoY) were again the fastest growing powertrain. Diesel continued to fall (-19% YoY), with the once dominant fuel in France now having only 10% share in April, which is less than what BEVs had (13%)!

Expect BEVs to keep gaining ground throughout the year as they keep growing faster than everything else.

The 20 Best Selling Electric Vehicles in France — April 2023

Last month’s best seller was the Dacia Spring, with 2,432 registrations, allowing it to be 11th overall. The Peugeot 208 EV followed suit, with 1,563 deliveries, while the Fiat 500e won the last place on the podium in April, with 1,365 registrations.

Below the podium, even in an off-peak month, the Tesla Model Y managed to end ahead of the local hero Renault Megane EV, which ended the month in 5th, with 1,184 registrations. The Megane EV was at least 400 units ahead of the #6 MG 4, which continues to win sales thanks to its unbeatable specs-vs-price ratio.

Elsewhere, the #9 Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV was again the leader in the PHEV category, with 591 sales. In fact, it was a 100% Stellantis podium in this category thanks to the #12 position of the DS 7 PHEV and the #13 position of the DS 4 PHEV. As their eCMP-platform BEVs are transitioning into the new powertrain, Stellantis is stepping up its PHEV production to fill in the gap.

In the second half of the table, one highlight was the VW ID.4, in #13 with 439 sales. It was the best selling model from Volkswagen Group in France. Just below it, we have the #17 Kia Niro, which ended the month with 403 sales, 331 of them belonging to the BEV version.

Just below it, and highlighting a good month for the Volkswagen brand, the VW Tiguan PHEV ended the month in #18, with 392 registrations — its best result in 22 months. Its BEV counterpart, the VW ID.4, was close to joining the table, with the electric crossover ending April with 323 registrations, a new year best.

These positive results from PHEV models happen despite PHEVs having lost the purchase incentive at the end of 2022. So, this demand is not incentive-derived. However, there’s still the French malus system, where the most emission-polluting vehicles are heavily taxed — so people are still incentivized to purchase a PHEV. While they don’t get any kind of purchase incentive, they still benefit from the fact that they pay less in taxes than they would for a pure-ICE vehicle. And no one likes to pay taxes….

The 20 Best Selling Electric Vehicles in France — January–April 2023

Looking at the 2023 ranking, 1st place is in the hands of the surging Tesla Model Y, which kept the Dacia Spring in the runner-up spot, even if by one unit.

The aforementioned Dacia Spring (+64% YoY) and the #3 Peugeot 208 EV (+59% YoY) complete the podium of models on the rise that probably will race between themselves to define the medal positions by year end.

And for some to go up, others must come down, like the Tesla Model 3. Tesla’s mass-market sedan was down 47% YoY, no doubt suffering from the internal competition of the Model Y. The other two significant losers this year come from the Renault stable: the #9 Zoe sales are down 37% YoY, while the smaller #10 Twingo EV is down 38%. With the Megane EV not living up to expectations, that future Renault 5 cannot come soon enough!

As for the MG 4, its rise and rise seems to have no end, having ended the month in #7.

In the second half of the table, we have one new entry, with the Mini Cooper EV returning to the table in #17, tied with the Peugeot 308 PHEV.

Finally, the #21 VW ID.3 (1,536 registrations) and #22 Opel Corsa EV (1,518 registrations) seem ready to jump into the top 20, at the cost of the Mercedes plugin hybrids that currently stand in #19 (GLA) and #20 (GLC).

Auto Brands Selling the Most Electric Vehicles in France

Looking at the brand ranking, Peugeot (12.9%) stands in the lead, having sustained Tesla’s peak in March (now at 11.3% at the end of April). The same cannot be said about Renault (9.2%), which dropped to 3rd, its worst standing since 2012 — a humiliation of sorts for the brand that won the French title for 8 consecutive years (2013–2020).

Off the podium, Dacia (8.3%) is comfortable in 4th, far from #5 Fiat (5.3%). And Fiat has several challengers to its top 5 spot, as MG, BMW, and Mercedes each have 4.8% share and could reach the top 5 soon at the expense of the Italian brand.

Auto Groups Selling the Most Electric Vehicles in France

As for OEMs, Stellantis continues to be the major force in this market, with a commanding 29.6% market share. The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance is far behind in #2, with 18.2% share, while Tesla is #3, with 11.3%, having earned a 2.3% share increase year over year.

Off the podium, Volkswagen Group is 4th (9.5%, up 2.2% in market share YoY) and BMW Group is 5th (7%), but the German OEM has Hyundai–Kia (6.9%) right behind it.

 


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José Pontes

Always interested in the auto industry, particularly in electric cars, Jose has been overviewed the sales evolution of plug-ins on the EV Sales blog, allowing him to gain an expert view on where EVs are right now and where they are headed in the future. The EV Sales blog has become a go-to source for people interested in electric car sales around the world. Extending that work and expertise, Jose is also market analyst on EV-Volumes and works with the European Alternative Fuels Observatory on EV sales matters.

José Pontes has 469 posts and counting. See all posts by José Pontes