A combination of pent-up demand and the effects of the government subsidy program saw the French market surge back to life in June.
CCFA data shows that light vehicle sales increased by 2.4% year-on-year in June to nearly 286,000 units. Passenger car sales increased by 1.2% to just under 234,000 units.
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The French scrappage scheme is more broadly-applicable than the program in place in Germany that fixes on subsidising EV sales. Due to this it’s not expected that the German scheme will have had such an accelerative effect on the market in June, analysts point out.
For the French market participants, it wasn’t all good news. PSA sales across its four marques Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Opel fell by 9.1% YoY. Its arch rival Renault managed to increases sales by 6.5%, with Renault growing 6.4% and Dacia by 8.1%. PSA’s struggles meant that French OEMs saw their sales fall by 1.4% while foreign brands increased sales by 5.1%.
“This result might add more fuel to the fire of those in the UK reluctant to introduce a scrappage scheme because such a move, it is argued, would serve to benefit non-UK manufacturers more than the domestics,” said GlobalData analyst Calum MacRae.
Overall, thanks to the marked volume declines March through to May, the French light vehicle market is still 37.3% down in the first half. For the full year GlobalData currently forecasts a market down by 24%.
“However, if the French market continues to embrace the incentives so enthusiastically there’s every chance that the fund available in the package could be exhausted before year end. In this event, there is every chance that the industry will lobby the government hard for more funds to be diverted to the scheme and increase the full-year prospects for the French market significantly,” MacRae added.
