Electrified cars overtake petrol models in French Q1 sales, Auto News, ET Auto

By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS: Gross sales of recent electrified automobiles in France overtook petrol-powered equivalents for the primary time within the first quarter, a significant milestone for lower-emission automobiles amid excessive costs at petrol pumps and authorities subsidies for electrified fashions.

General, French new automobile gross sales fell within the first quarter and recorded their tenth straight month of declines with an virtually 20% drop in March, because the auto business struggles to with provide chain points together with a world scarcity of semiconductor chips.

Gross sales of totally electrical and hybrid fashions accounted for practically 40% of recent automobile gross sales, versus 38.3% for standard petrol fashions, in keeping with business knowledge offered by the Plateforme car (PFA).

A spokesperson for the PFA stated as a result of uncertainty over the struggle in Ukraine and shortages of some elements, it was not attainable to offer a forecast for French new automobile gross sales in 2022.

Including in diesel mannequin gross sales’ market share of 16.5% within the first quarter, pure combustion engine fashions are nonetheless within the majority.

However it is a sea change in auto gross sales, as electrified automobiles had been a distinct segment market simply three years in the past.

Inspired by subsidies, looming bans on fossil-fuel fashions and excessive petrol costs, electrified fashions have change into mainstream in a really quick area of time.

The highest-selling electrical automobile in France in March was Tesla’s mass-market Mannequin 3, adopted by the Dacia Spring from Renault and the Peugeot 208 from Stellantis.

French automobile gross sales had been down 17.3% within the first quarter.

In 2020, the French automobile market fell off a cliff because of the coronavirus pandemic, however then rose barely in 2021.

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General gross sales on the earth’s largest automobile market rose to 1.74 million automobiles in February, knowledge from the China Affiliation of Car Producers (CAAM) confirmed.