According to data provided by Automobile Platform, sales of passenger cars in France in March this year decreased slightly compared to the same period last year. The report reveals a decrease in the number of new car registrations in France by 1.47%.with a total of 180,024 private vehicles registered last month.

This drop is partly explained by the number of working days in March, which was 21 this year compared to 23 in 2023. However, despite this slight drop, the French car market maintains positive dynamics during the first quarter of the year. , with a total increase of 5.71% compared to the previous yearthat is, 444,903 registrations.

Stellantis is in trouble, causing a small drop in the market

The Stellantis group faced some difficulties in March, with a drop of 8.78% in its registrations compared to the previous year. The group’s flagship brands, such as Peugeot, Citroën and DS, recorded significant declines with figures of -12.93%, -17.73% and -20.27% respectively. However, Fiat and Jeep showed contrasting performances, with notable sales growth of 19.39% and 109.84% respectively. Impressive progress for Jeep thanks in particular to the arrival of the Avenger.
For its part, the Renault group was able to do well by recording an increase in the number of registrations in France by 2.78% compared to the previous year. In particular, Renault’s sales increased by 8.92%, while Dacia’s sales, which usually show positive results, fell by 9.16%. The recently introduced Duster and the Spring facelift should help reverse the trend in the coming months.

Mixed performance from German and Asian manufacturers

German manufacturers Volkswagen and BMW also experienced a slowdown in the French market in March. Volkswagen recorded a 0.88% drop in sales, and BMW – 4.83%. On the other hand, Mercedes recorded a significant increase in registrations with a growth of 58.81%.
As for Asian manufacturers, Toyota recorded a 46.32% increase in sales in France, while Nissan saw shipments drop by 30.94% compared to the previous year. Other Japanese manufacturers, Suzuki and Mitsubishi, showed positive performance, increasing sales by 28.81% and 79.65%, respectively.
American manufacturers Ford and Tesla posted disappointing results in the French market in March. Ford’s sales fell 12.5% ​​year-over-year, while Tesla’s fell 42.62%. As usual with Tesla, these numbers fluctuate from month to month depending on delivery times.

Electricity is progressing

On the electricity side, their market share is 19% in March 2024, up two points from March 2023. Social leasing has seen quite a few deliveries, including the Peugeot e-208, which is number one in sales, ahead of the Tesla Model Y and the Fiat 500e (also offered through social leasing).
In the first three months of the year, gasoline is still in the lead – 33.4% of the total number of new cars. The electric motor takes second place with 18%, ahead of the hybrid (16.5%), mild hybrid (11.5%) and plug-in hybrid (8.7%).

Diesel comes last with 7.5% of registrations, a figure that contrasts with the rest of Europe where, paradoxically, this energy has regained prominence in recent months.