Further decline in new car sales in France.
In July, they fell by 7%, held back by shortages of electronic chips for the fourteenth consecutive month.
Manufacturers registered 107,547 vehicles in July, the Automotive Platform, which represents them, announced on Monday.
After years 2020 and 2021 marked by Covid and supply problems, the market is down 15.31% over the first seven months of the year.
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879,527 new cars have been registered since January 1, compared to 1,338,667 over the same period of 2019, before the crisis, i.e. a "loss" of more than 450,000 cars.
Always delivery problems
Petrol and diesel cars are the most affected by this decline, even if they still represent 65% of sales since the beginning of the year.
On the other hand, electrics continue their strong growth and represent 12.1% of the market.
Hybrids (gasoline and diesel) are down slightly for the 5th consecutive month and represent 21.4% of sales, while plug-in hybrids (equipped with a small rechargeable electric battery on a socket or terminal), are down sharply in month of July and represent 8% of sales.
“We remain in exactly the same conditions, there are always delivery problems”, linked to the shortage of semiconductors and the hiccups in global logistics, explained François Roudier, of the PFA.
“The problem of purchasing power and the wait-and-see attitude of buyers linked to fears about the future, changes in regulations and engine options have been added to the shortages of new cars for several months”, explains Marie-Laure. Nivot from AAA Data.
The second-hand market, which recorded records in 2021, has been falling for eight months now, to -19.5% in July, penalized by the absence of recent vehicles.
Commercial vehicle sales also continue to fall sharply, “a reflection of the morale of economic operators”, underlines François Roudier, with a 24% drop in July and 24.35% over the first seven months of the year.