The automobile market is not in its best shape in October, with sales of new cars down sharply.
Since the end of the health crisis, the automobile industry has struggled to return to pre-Covid levels. And for good reason, sales of new cars are stagnating, or even falling depending on the month. And precisely, in October the French automobile market continued its downward trend that had begun since the summer, particularly during August and September. Sales of new passenger cars have decreased by 11.1% compared to October 2023, or 14.9% if we take into account the number of working days.
Sales falling sharply
And unfortunately, this trend is confirmed throughout the year: despite an encouraging start at the end of winter and spring, the new automobile market is now an overall drop of 2.7% over the first ten months of 2024, after a year 2023 marked by a fairly encouraging slight recovery. But then, what explains this particularly difficult situation, with sales plummeting? In fact, the difficulties of the main manufacturers contribute largely to this fall. The Stellantis group, which brings together brands like Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat and Opel, recorded a particularly marked drop of 20.5%. Among its brands, Fiat suffered a loss of 37.6% in sales, while Opel fell by 37.1%. Renault, another key player in the French market, is not immune to the decline either, with a decline of 11.5% for its entire group. The diamond brand Renault itself saw its sales decline by 10.4%, and its subsidiary Dacia recorded a loss of 13.6%.
What about the engines purchased?
On the other hand, some foreign manufacturers manage to do well: Toyota records an increase of 19.4%confirming the popularity of its hybrid models and its strategy oriented towards alternative technologies. Volkswagen, for its part, is also doing well here, with a 10.8% increase in sales. We note that gasoline vehicles still dominate the market, representing 30.7% of sales over the first ten months of 2024. “Full hybrid” comes in second position with 19%, while electric vehicles occupy the third place with 17% of the market, a stable proportion compared to 2023. Mild hybridization represents 14.3%, followed by plug-in hybrid (7.8%) and diesel, whose share is only by 7.5%. However, despite the rise of alternative energies, the share of electric cars has not progressed as hoped. In October, their share in total sales fell to 15% compared to 17% in the same month the previous year, highlighting a certain slowdown. Since the start of the year, this share remains at 17%, as in 2023. This stagnation could be explained by still high prices and a supply of affordable models considered insufficient by consumers.
In terms of best sales, the Peugeot 208 maintains its leading position, with 75,664 units sold since January. However, competition remains keen: the Renault Clio, with 74,311 units sold, is only a few hundred units from first place.
Source: www.autoplus.fr
