Tesla leads France's 2022 winners as sales fall 8%

PARIS -- French new car registrations were flat in December, down just 0.1 percent over December 2021, while the market lost 7.8 percent for the year.

There were 158,027 sales in December, according to industry group PFA, and 1,529,035 for the year. 

Headwinds in 2022 were parts shortages, notably semiconductors; economic fallout from inflation and the effects of the war in Ukraine; and toward the end of the year logistic issues at Stellantis because of a shortage of truck drivers. Sales were 31 percent below pre-pandemic 2019. 

Winners for the month among volume brands were Toyota, up 59 percent; BMW, up 43 percent; Volkswagen brand, up 38 percent; and Tesla, up 27 percent. 

For the year, Tesla led volume brands with a 10 percent increase, followed by Ford (+7.6 percent), Kia and Dacia (+4.5 percent each), Toyota (+4.3 percent), and Hyundai (+4.1 percent).

Small cars held the top four sales positions, led by the Peugeot 208, with 88,812 sales (and a 5.8 percent market share). The 208 was followed by the Dacia Sandero (64,293 sales), the Renault Clio (64,012 sales) and the Citroen C3 (58,880 sales). 

Top-selling brands were Peugeot, with a 16.1 percent market share;  Renault, with a 15.5 percent market share; and Dacia, with an 8.6 percent share to take third place from Citroen (8.5 percent).

By power source, gasoline cars had a 37 percent share; diesel a 16 percent share; full electric 13 percent; full hybrid 12 percent; mild hybrid 9.4 percent; and plug-in hybrid 8.3 percent.