French Electric Vehicle Sales Hit 2024 Low in July Amid Broader Automotive Slump

In July, France saw a marked decline in new registrations of electric vehicles (EV), hitting their lowest point so far in 2024, according to data released by the French Ministry of Environment. The total number of EVs registered last month reached 17,466 units, a slight increase from 17,251 in July 2023, but a significant drop from previous months this year. This decline caused the market share of EVs to fall by 3.1 percentage points to 13.5% of all new vehicle sales.

The sluggish performance was not confined to fully electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations also reached their lowest level of the year, with only 9,224 units sold—a sharp decline of 33% from June and 29% from July 2023. The market share for plug-in hybrids also contracted slightly to 7.1%, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month.

Diesel vehicles, once dominant in the French market, continued their downward trajectory with registrations dropping by 25% year-on-year to 9,426 units. Overall, new vehicle registrations in France declined by 1% compared to the same period last year, totaling 129,425 units.

The downturn comes as France is pushing for a significant shift towards electric mobility. In May, the French government signed a strategic contract with the automotive sector, setting an ambitious target to quadruple the sales of electric passenger cars by the end of 2027. Despite these efforts, the immediate outlook for the EV market remains challenging, as the July figures suggest that consumer demand may not yet be aligning with governmental targets.

As of the end of June, France had over 138,000 public charging stations for EVs, and more than 1.8 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were on French roads, an increase from about 1.5 million in 2023. These infrastructure improvements, coupled with government incentives, are crucial for driving future growth in the EV market. However, the recent slump indicates that achieving the 2027 targets will require sustained efforts to boost consumer adoption of electric vehicles.