French car market rebounds in June after months of decline

The situation is getting better, but not for everyone. The French car market, boosted by government support measures, recovered in June, increasing by 1.2% year on year, after months of free fall linked to the Covid-19 health crisis.

The Renault group (with Dacia and Alpine), whose new boss Luca de Meo takes office on Wednesday, benefited from the rebound (+ 6.5%), while PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel) saw its Deliveries continue to drop (-9.1%) compared to June 2019, according to figures published by the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA). June had two more working days than June 2019. Corrected for this calendar effect, the market remains in slight decline over a year. 233,818 new vehicles were in any case put on the roads of France last month.

A drop of 20% to 30% expected throughout the year

The automobile trade, put at a standstill during the confinement from March 17 to May 11, collapsed in the spring: fall in new passenger car registrations by 72% in March, by 88.8% in April, then again by 50.3% in May.

The deconfinement logically marked an upturn, reinforced by the automobile support plan announced at the end of May by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. The market was boosted by the reinforcement of the ecological bonus for electric vehicles as well as by the new scrappage bonus which subsidizes the purchase of recent vehicles (new or used) in exchange for the scrapping of a vehicle former.

Cumulative over the first half, the French automobile market fell 38.6% with 715,802 new cars. Professionals expect a drop of 20% to 30% over the whole year, the accumulated delay can no longer be made up.

Foreign brands experiencing strong recovery in sales

"We have a good recovery" in June, "on the whole it is positive", rejoices François Roudier, CCFA spokesperson, noting "an increase in sales of electrics and hybrids", less polluting vehicles encouraged by public authorities. "The vehicles that have sold the best are rather entry-level vehicles," he said, however, a likely effect of the scrapping premium which affects a less solvent clientele. In addition, “it is essentially sales to individuals that have carried the market” while certain channels such as sales to short-term rental companies are “weak or even non-existent”.

François Roudier believes that we must be careful about the comparisons between manufacturers: "PSA had performed very well in June 2019 and Renault a little less", hence a comparison base more favorable to the group with the diamond.

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Behind the two French manufacturers, Volkswagen recorded a fall of 7.7%. The German group, the leading importer in France, was weighed down by the performance of the Volkswagen (-14.1%) and Audi (-11%) brands, while its more accessible Skoda brand jumped 20.1%. The Japanese Toyota benefited from the enthusiasm for its range of hybrid vehicles (+ 16.7%), as did the Korean Hyundai (+ 27.3%) which also benefits from a wider electric offer than the competition. Ford (+ 24.9%) is also among the winners of the month. German specialists in high-end BMW, including Mini (+ 37.5%) and Mercedes (+ 43.9%) particularly shone. Among the losers, Fiat Chrysler (FCA), in the process of merging with PSA, has absolutely not benefited from the rebound. The American-Italian group (with its brands Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo) fell again by 39.7% in June. Nissan, Renault's Japanese partner, also suffered (-3%).