A total of 1,529,035 new passenger cars were put into circulation last year, compared to 1,659,003 in 2021.
The French automobile market fell by 7.83% in 2022. The upturn in recent months has not made it possible to compensate for global delivery difficulties and shortages of electronic chips, according to figures published on Sunday by the Automotive Platform (PFA ), which represents manufacturers and equipment manufacturers.
A total of 1,529,035 new passenger cars were put into circulation last year, compared to 1,659,003 in 2021. In 2019, just before the pandemic which marked a considerable drag on the sector, 2.2 million vehicles had been put up for sale, according to the PFA.
After a disastrous 2020, with closed dealerships and a sluggish economy, the market did not rebound the following year. In 2022, it finally relapsed, despite four months of increases in the second half.
A one-third drop in volume since 2019
“We are structurally in a market which has fallen by a third in volume since 2019, due to a succession of crises”, declared François Roudier, head of communication for the PFA.
These crises “add up”, he explained, listing “the problem of the availability of electronic components, the difficulties of delivering vehicles due to a lack of drivers, which have been accentuated with the war in Ukraine, the increase in costs too expensive materials and fuel”.
The used car market, which took off in 2021, is also down sharply by 13% with 5.26 million units, according to provisional data from the firm NGC Data published by Argus.
