The French automobile market is at a standstill. The sector suffered a further shock in April, falling 88.8%, due to the coronavirus epidemic and measures to contain the population, according to data released Friday by the manufacturers.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation
"The points of sale have been stopped since March 15"
In this extraordinary context, French groups were affected, like the entire market. PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel) saw its registrations of new passenger cars collapse (-84.3%), as did the Renault group (-83.8%), with Dacia and Alpine, according to figures from the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA). The authority expects, as in March, a 20% drop in the market over the year, on the condition of a substantial recovery plan. The health crisis had already led to a 72% drop in car registrations in March.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> How many deaths at home should be added to the epidemic?
> What is the purpose of AlloCOVID, the telephone platform that uses artificial intelligence?
> Why we will have to wait before finding masks in pharmacies
> Coronavirus: can the MMR vaccine be dangerous for children?
> These platforms which help to find a job during confinement
"The shock wave is terrible in the automotive sector," confirms at the microphone of Europe 1 Luc Chatel, president of the Automobile Platform, a union of professionals in the sector. "The outlets have been shut down since March 15, as have the factories," said the former minister. According to him, "the impact on the whole year is in the order of a drop of 30 to 35%. This brings us back to levels of sales volumes of motor vehicles which was that at the beginning of the years 2000, about twenty years ago ".