PARIS -- French new car registrations fell by 21 percent in September compared with the same month of 2020, with only a handful of brands recording gains as the chip shortage continued to weigh on sales.
There were 133,835 sales in September on 22 selling days, industry group CCFA said. That figure was well below pre-pandemic levels, at 23 percent less than September 2019, when 173,433 sales were recorded.
The semiconductor shortage has led to multiple production halts among French automakers. In one example, Renault cut production of its Kadjar, Megane and Captur models in Spain at the end of August. Stellantis has implemented a furlough plan at factories in France, which unions have criticized.