Chambourcy (France) (AFP)

Diesel? Decried for its pollutant emissions. Gasoline? Taxed for its CO2 emissions. The power? Too expensive. Many motorists do not know which car to buy, to the point of delaying their decision, even to give up, a trend that worries the sector.

In a Hyundai dealership in Chambourcy (Yvelines), a retiree scans several models, looking for a replacement to his diesel SUV (leisure 4x4).

"I hesitate between vehicles electric or hybrid style, or gasoline.I seek my way," says AFP Christmas Freal. "I had a lot of diesel in my life, for me it was the ideal engine, but we must be careful to protect our planet".

The rigged engines scandal has highlighted the polluting discharges, fine particles and oxides of nitrogen, and discredited this technology. In Europe big cities, like Paris, have announced the progressive ban on diesel. The market has collapsed.

"Before it was simple, we had petrol or diesel, now we also have the hybrid (petrol-electric), the electric, the rechargeable hybrid ...", explains Quentin Barbier, head of sales in this Hyundai dealership. "The customer knows what he wants as a car template, but he is in trouble to choose the engine, he asks a lot more questions."

Diesel represents only one registration out of three in France, against three quarters at its peak in 2012. But gasoline-electric hybrids (5% of the market) and electric cars (2%), more expensive and unsuitable for all uses, struggling to take off. The postponements are therefore massively towards gasoline.

Problem: these engines consume more and emit more CO2, one of the main gases responsible for global warming. In France, they are also more often penalized by a "malus", a purchase tax that will be increased on 1 January to favor electrified vehicles.

- "The motorists are lost" -

"I decided to go for gasoline for ecological reasons, but I was very surprised to see me impose an ecological penalty of 80 euros on my vehicle, while there were none on the models. I think there are plenty of people who can not understand that, "testifies to AFP Alain Codron, a retiree met in Orgeval (Yvelines) in a dealership Aramis Auto, a sales company in France. line of new or used cars.

Philippe Geffroy, president of Mazda France, denounces the complexity and incoherence of current public policies. "We hold a speech anti-diesel that kills the market and at the same time the diesel is favored by the system of bonus / malus.People are lost," says the manager who represents foreign manufacturers in France, as president of the passenger car branch of the International Trade Union Chamber for Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles (CSIAM).

Claiming "technological neutrality", he is also surprised that the "Crit'Air" stickers, which classify vehicles according to their polluting emissions, note better "plug-in hybrid vehicles that are 2 tons and consume a lot" compared to diesel of last generation, more virtuous according to him.

Technological and regulatory complexities combine to plunge buyers into doubt. "There is a phenomenon of waiting People say: + I do not know what to buy, so I do not change my vehicle and I'm waiting for + This is probably one of the explanations today down of the European market, "said this summer Jacques Aschenbroich, boss of the equipment manufacturer Valeo, during a lunch with journalists.

At first glance, with 2.1 million registrations planned this year, the French car market seems to resist. "But when we go into the details of the figures, we realize that sales to businesses are pulling the market, while sales to individuals are down slightly," says Flavien Neuvy, director of the Observatory Cetelem.

"Motorists are a bit lost and prefer to wait to see more clearly before changing their car," says this expert. "One of the consequences is that they are turning more to the second-hand market, so the fleet is aging and that's not good news because older vehicles are also the most polluting."

© 2019 AFP