The recovery is slow. “The progression continues but the market still remains, in volumes, 30% below compared to the pre-Covid period”, explained to AFP, François Roudier, communication manager of the Automotive Platform (PFA) which represents manufacturers and equipment manufacturers. “We are recovering but very slowly. In a traditional month of April, registrations were more like around 160,000 or more,” before the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.
The month of April was particularly favorable to the Renault group, which recorded 36,589 new registrations, i.e. 54.7% compared to April 2022. These monthly statistics relate to deliveries of vehicles ordered several months ago. Within the group, the Dacia brand benefited from the upturn with a 63.4% increase in registrations (13,972) while its flagship Renault brand totaled the most sales in the market as a whole (22,489), 50.7% increase. In April, the group represented 27.6% of market share, just behind its competitor Stellantis (Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat) which remains number one in France (28.3%). Stellantis continues to suffer from logistical problems but saw its deliveries increase slightly in April by 5.7% compared to April 2022 with 37,537 new releases. Within the group, the Peugeot brand increased by 6.10% with 18,789 registrations, but Alfa Romeo jumped by 98.65%.
Another heavyweight in the sector, the group of the German manufacturer Volkswagen saw its sales increase sharply by 31.59% with 18,831 cars delivered, including 8,975 from the homonymous brand. Porsche is 71.93% in April. “This upward trend in the market nevertheless deserves to be qualified: the basis of comparison is very low. In the same month of last year, 108,724 registrations of new private vehicles (VPN) had been recorded, a drop of 23% compared to April 2021, “commented the data analysis firm AAA DATA in a communicated. In addition, a bleaker outlook is mentioned: “The level of orders is at an all-time low, down 14% between January and March 2023”, according to Marie-Laure Nivot, Head of Market Intelligence at AAA DATA.
Gas-powered cars continue to dominate the “private” market, with 38.9% of sales in the first four months of the year. Just behind, hybrid vehicles account for 31.1% of new registrations (compared to 29.4% over the period from January to April 2022). “But it’s more electric vehicles that are on the rise,” noted François Roudier. With 14.8% market share in the first four months of 2023 (compared to 11.9% in the same period in 2022), they “much outpace diesel”, which accounted for only 11% of sales between January and April 2023 down 5.3 points. In the top 5 best-selling electric vehicles, Dacia topped the list in April followed by Peugeot, Renault, Tesla and Fiat, according to AAA DATA analysis.
