5
Alleluia. In August 2022, new car registrations reached 91,411, an increase of 3.79% compared to August 2021. This good news marks the end of 14 consecutive months of decline. Asia and electrification are the big winners.
The hemorrhage that has affected the French automobile market for 14 consecutive months marks a pause. Although considered the smallest month of the year, August saw new car registrations increase by 3.79% compared to August 2021 (88,065 copies), whose number of working days (22) was identical. Admittedly, we are still far from the 129,257 registrations of August 2019.
Thus, since the start of 2022, 971,033 new vehicles have been registered, a decrease of 13.8% compared to 2021. The finding is worse if we compare with 2019, the reference year. before the Covid crisis during which 1,467,191 new cars had been registered over the same period. In this case, the drop reaches 29.3%.
Of course, the causes of this gloom are more or less the same as those advanced for 14 months. In addition to the Covid crisis, there is, according to NGC-Data, the “rise in raw materials and energy prices, difficulties in the production and supply of semi-conductors, economic uncertainty of all kinds (war in Ukraine) and inflation of “only” +5.8% ( INSEE) in August“.
Another factor, part of the French population “also waits, before choosing your next vehicle, to find out what its room for maneuver will be with regard to traffic restrictions in metropolitan areas and with regard to the evolution of fuels (prices and taxes)“.
Finally, the historic manufacturers now prefer to favor a policy of moving upmarket to preserve their margins (electric motorization, availability of high finishes, lower discounts) to the detriment of registration volumes at all costs.
Second-hand market still lagging behind
As for the second-hand market, for the past 9 months, the trend has been downward. The month of August did not escape this desolation with 364,535 transactions, or -15.9%.
According to Marie-Laure Nivot, Market Intelligence Manager at AAA Data, this is explained by the fact that many French people “are increasingly opting for rent-to-own. We also note that a growing proportion of them are choosing to buy their car at the end of the contract, no doubt due to the lack of availability of new cars and the inflation that is hitting the second-hand market. Of course, this trend contributes to drying up the supply of recent second-hand models“.
Electric, more electric
Those who predicted a domination of electric over diesel and gasoline from this summer will be at their expense. If the share of diesel has weakened by 11%, fuel nevertheless retains a market share of 16.7%, or just under 4 points more than electric (12.1%). The electric, precisely, increased by 24% in August. Ditto for gasoline, whose market share is 38%.
Electrified engines such as non-rechargeable hybrids remain stable at 18.5% of VPN registrations in 2022, while rechargeable hybrids are at 7.5% (down 15.1%). The latter will indeed lose their tax aid with the future Euro 6th standard.
Electricity, the spearhead of Asian manufacturers
Once again, it is the Asian manufacturers who are doing well. The Hyundai / Kia duo has posted respective growth of 6.8% (31,542 VP) and 4.1% (29,157 VP) since the start of the year 2022.
Although qualified as a niche brand by NGC Data, another Asian manufacturer is making headlines. This is MG Motor, whose growth since the beginning of the year is 98.7% (5276 VP). The Chinese should do a lot of damage with its new model, the MG4.
Among the other fine advances since the start of the year, let’s mention Dacia, which in August registered 8,847 cars (+13.13%; market share of 9.68%), which is hot on the heels of Citroën and its 9,570 cars (+ 7.30%; MRP of 10.47%). Like Hyundai and Kia, Dacia is one of the few to be in the green since the start of the year: 82,978 registrations (+3.96%) and a market share of 8.55%.
As for the French, Peugeot is number one in August with 14,290 registrations (+14.34%; market share of 15.63%), followed by Renault (10,872 passenger cars; -15.43%; market share of 11, 89%) and Citroën (9,570 PCs; +7.30%; PDM of 10.47%).
On the other hand, on the first 8 of the year 2022, Peugeot, Renault and Citroën observe a respective decrease of -18.95%, -14.24% and -21.03%. Remember that the French market has been at -13.81% since January 2022.
Peugeot 208, Citroën C3 and Dacia Sandero, queens of sales
With 97 more cars, the Peugeot 208 phase 2 (5,548 PV; +23.48%) retains its number one position ahead of the Citroën C3 phase 3 (5,451 PV; +48.49%) and the Dacia Sandero 3 (4,435 PV; -20.31%).
Once again, the top 10 for the month of August is monopolized by Stellantis which places five cars (Peugeot, Citroën and Fiat) against four for the Renault-Dacia duo. Within this top, 6th place is occupied by the Toyota Yaris (2,622 PV; +15.71%).