The tumble in new car sales continues. And the year 2022 got off to a bad start with a spectacular drop in registrations in January. According to the Automotive Platform (PFA), 102,901 private vehicles were registered in France, a drop of 18.58% compared to the same month last year.
French groups are strongly impacted. Registrations of the Stellantis group, which notably includes the Peugeot, Citroën, DS and Opel brands, fell by 18.49% compared to a year earlier. For the Renault group (Renault, Dacia and Alpine brands), the drop is even greater with 23.44% less registrations compared to January 2021. The only good note, Alpine, whose sales are close to the bar of one hundred vehicles sold, which is not bad for a niche vehicle.
Covid and lack of components
For its part, Tesla has sold only 48 copies of its luxury electric cars, a collapse of 44.19% compared to January 2021.
In this environment, there are very few manufacturers that stand out with the exception of the Hyundai group (Huyndai, Kia) up 9.5% and Mitsubishi.
The coronavirus crisis and the lack of components are the cause of these poor results. Purchasing power concerns are also important for households which, before the presidential election, traditionally tend to ease off on major purchases.
