French Auto Market in 2024 dropped 3% compared to the previous year, reaching 1,718 million units sold. This represents a 16.52% drop compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Among the Top 10 brands, Toyota stood out with impressive growth of 18.1%, while Citroën and Hyundai recorded the weakest performances.
Market Trend and Outlook
In 2024, France activity is projected to remain subdued over the first half of the year, with growth in the first quarter reaching only 0.2%. However, the moderation of inflation and the easing of financial conditions expected in the second half of the year are projected to allow for a progressive recovery. Private consumption is expected to be the main driver for growth, as real wages bounce back while investment from both households and corporations is set to slow down. Net exports are set to have a slightly positive contribution to growth as exports gather momentum, notably in transport equipment. The deficit-reducing measures announced by the government for which sufficient detail has been disclosed have been taken into account in this forecast and are also set to weigh on economic growth. Overall, real GDP is forecast to grow by 0.7% in 2024.
The French EV market experienced a 10.6% year-on-year decline in 2024, totaling 254,509 units despite support from initiatives like the 2024-2027 Strategic Sector Contract. Peugeot retained its position as the top-selling EV brand, though its sales fell by 6.8% year-on-year. Tesla (-35.4%) and MG (-58.7%) saw the steepest declines, while BMW (+92.4%), Citroën (+168.7%), and Volvo (+464.1%) recorded the most significant growth, ranking 4th, 7th, and 9th, respectively.
The sluggish economic outlook affected the automotive industry, which saw a 3% decline in 2024 compared to 2023 as total car sales reached 1,718 million. While the market downturn was partially mitigated in December, with sales at 183,661 reflecting only a 1.5% decrease, the negative trend persisted for most of the year.
Looking at cumulative data up to December 2024, brand-wise Renault sold 277,300 cars (-0.2%) followed by Peugeot with 232,712 (-3.4%) and Dacia with 144,978 (-7.3%).
In fourth place Toyota -up 2 spots- with 127,519 sales (+18.1%) ahead of Volkswagen with 119,360 (-0.4%), Citroen -down 2 spots- with 111,536 (-11.2%) and BMW -up 1 spot- with 67,147 (+12.7%).
In eighth place ranked Mercedes -up 1 spot- with 51,266 sales (-1.1%) followed by Audi -up 3 spots- with 47,915 (-2.8%) and in 10th place by Hyundai -up 1 spot- with 45,451 (-8%).
Looking at the best selling model, widely reported in the dedicated post, the leader was still the Renault Clio (-6.2%) ahead of the Dacia Sandero (+10%) and Peugeout 208 (+9.3%).
Medium-Term Market Trend
In the last decade the French market has had many ups and down. From 2010 to 2013 the French vehicle-market fell year after year starting from 2.3 million sales in 2010 and reaching the lowest point in 2013 with 1.8 million sales. Following this period the French market began a 6 year growth bringing sales nearly back to previous levels in 2019 (2.2 millions sales).
With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, causing dealers and manufacturing plants to close down, the French auto-market took a substantial hit, losing 23.7%. This brought sales to an all time low, with almost 1.7 million registrations.
Post-Covid, sales stayed at 1.7 million in 2021 and in 2022 fell 7.8% to 1.53 million. Lower demand was consequential to the current European sentiment that is pushing more towards EVs, a substantially more expensive alternative for French consumers.
Despite factors that were projected to put negative pressure on demand in 2023, the French Auto Market figures reached 1.77 million sales, up 15.9% from the previous year.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models.
