French sales fall by 21% in September on chips crunch

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.

The likelihood of a strong recovery from 2020 now seems faint, one analyst said.

"Manufacturers' announcements leave little hope for a normalization of the situation in terms of chip supply and faster production rates and reduced lead times," said Eric Champarnaud, the president of  analyst and consulting company Autoways.

"The final quarter will resemble September, and the 2021 annual market will show only a slight increase from a historically low 2020," he added. 

For the first nine months, sales are up by 8 percent from 2020.

Brands that recorded gains in September included Hyundai, up 31 percent; DS, up 18 percent; Kia, up 14 percent; and Audi, up 2.2 percent. Hyundai was the only group to show an increase for the month, with 22 percent growth.

Sales were down 28 percent at Stellantis group despite DS’ strong showing, with Peugeot brand down 36 percent, Citroen falling 17 percent, Opel down 32 percent and Fiat down 31 percent.

Renault Group sales fell by 15 percent, with Renault brand losing 21 percent and Dacia largely holding steady with a 3.4 percent decline.

Volkswagen Group was down 19 percent, with VW brand down 21 percent, Seat down 33 percent and Skoda losing 39 percent.

BMW group sales were down 16 percent. BMW brand lost 11 percent and Mini was down 28 percent. Mercedes-Benz sales fell 43 percent. Volvo sales fell 29 percent.

Among Asian brands, Toyota was down 30 percent, Suzuki lost 16 percent and Nissan fell by 34 percent. 

Electric vehicle sales hit 13 percent for the month, a record, according to analyst and consulting company Autoways. Autoways noted that EV sales were at 23 percent in the populous Bouches-du-Rhone, which includes Marseille, because of local incentives.

Diesel sales fell to 18 percent in September, compared with 32 percent in September 2020. For the year, diesel sales are at 22 percent, gasoline at 41 percent, all hybrids at 25 percent (8.1 percent plug-in hybrids) and EVs at 8.5 percent. Dual-fuel gas/LPG sales were 2.9 percent.

With strong EV sales, fleet CO2 emissions were 103.4 grams per km, the lowest level ever recorded.