The French automobile market “does not set off again” in July with a 32.81% drop in sales compared to the pre-pandemic in July 2019, the manufacturers announced on Sunday.

And going beyond the 2 million new cars sold over the year now appears to be compromised.

Compared with July 2020, marked by the recovery with the reopening of car dealerships, the market is down 35.35% with 115,713 registrations of new passenger cars, according to a press release.

"We are in a market that is not starting again," François Roudier, of the Automotive Platform (PFA) representing French manufacturers (formerly CCFA), told AFP.

"The French keep their savings or spend them in their housing," he says as an explanation.

In addition, there are fewer new cars on the market because of "the shortage of components", he emphasizes, which has been slowing down car production for several months.

Foreign manufacturers are also declining

Over the first seven months of 2021, the new passenger car market is down 22.42% compared to 2019 with 1,038,478 registrations. "We think that it may be difficult to reach 1.8 million sales this year", forecasts François Roudier who compares the level of registrations in 2021 "at the beginning of the 70s". "This will be the second year where we have failed to reach 2 million sales," he worries. Last year, new car registrations in France fell to 1.65 million, against 2.2 million in 2019, a drop of 25.5% due to the pandemic.

In July, Stellantis was down 39.57% compared to July 2019 with a sharp decline in its brands Alfa Roméo (-70.45%), Citroën (-48.24%) and Fiat (-50 , 57%).

The Renault group is down 34%.

Foreign manufacturers are also down: the Volkswagen group by 27.47% and its compatriot BMW by 17.72%.

Toyota (-12.94%) and Hyundai (-0.60%), however, show an increase over the first seven months of 2021 compared to 2019, of 1% and 4.66% respectively.

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