Still down, the French car market ends its worst quarter since the end of the 1970s

A marked drop.

New car registrations fell by 19.53% in March compared to the same period in 2021. Over the first quarter as a whole, the drop was 17.30% over one year.

So much so that the automotive market in France fell back to the level of the late 1970s. Only 365,361 cars were sold over these three months.

A figure never seen by professionals since the beginning of market statistics in the early 1980s. Suffice to say that the hope displayed by automotive professionals to see a rebound after the Covid crisis is melting as snow in the sun.

It is no longer even a question of making forecasts for the whole of 2022.

The crisis and the shortage of semiconductors are still very present.

Some manufacturers are still being forced to slow down or even stop vehicle production.

Furthermore, with the war in Ukraine, new supply difficulties appeared, particularly for electrical wiring, some production of which was carried out in Ukraine.

Consequence: delivery times for new vehicles are getting longer, pushing buyers to turn to second-hand goods.

Good performance from Kia and Tesla

Under these conditions, it is the sales of the Stellantis group which are the most affected with a decline of nearly 30% over one year: Peugeot falls by 33.5%, Citroën by 27.8% and Fiat by 27.6%. .

For its part, the Renault group, limits the breakage a little with a drop of 15%.

Once again, the group is saved by its low-cost Dacia brand, whose sales have increased by 31% over one year.

Note the good performance of Kia with an increase of 6.5% but also of Tesla up 7% even if the curve begins to settle.

Another very worrying point: the commercial vehicle market is also down by around 30%.

However, this figure remains an advanced indicator of business morale and the ability to invest in renewing their vehicle fleet.