If we tend to think that the vast majority of electric cars sold in France come from China, a study has proven the opposite.
When we talk about electric cars, we obviously tend to think of China, the world’s leading market for electron fuel vehicles. In addition to being sold in large numbers in the country, they are also manufactured there in millions of units each year.
The largest manufacturers of electric cars even have their factories there, notably Tesla which is flooding the Chinese market with its Model 3 and Model Y. Even the Model 3 sold in France is manufactured in China, the Tesla factory in Berlin being reserved for production of the Model Y at the moment.
Except that, contrary to what one might believe, most electric cars sold in France were not made in China. Unfortunately, they weren’t made in France either, but they don’t necessarily come from far away.
Where do electric cars sold in France come from?
Indeed, as reported by a study by Dataneo for Mobilians concerning the origin of electric cars sold in France since the start of 2024, the majority of them do not come from China, but from Spain with 20.4% of electric cars that were built in the Iberian Peninsula.
In reality, it’s not very surprising when looking at the sales figures, because most of the best-selling electrics come from Stellantis, and Stellantis produces many of its electric models in Spainnotably its Peugeot e-208 which has been manufactured in Zaragoza since September 2023, after spending a few years in the Trnava factory, in Slovakia.
The study goes even further and specifies that of the 133 electric models offered on the market, 23 of them are produced in China. In other words, it’s much less than you might imagine. In the month of April alone, this represented only 2,189 registrations, or 8.8% of the month’s electric market.
Cumulatively, since the start of the year, 20.4% of electric cars sold in France come from Spain, followed by Germany with 18.8%, then China with 17.8% (and this figure continues to decline with a drop of 33% last month). France is at the foot of the podium with 11.7% market share.
Why did Spain gain so much ground?
But why Spain more than China or even France? The answer is hidden on the side of taxation and labor costsbecause even Chinese manufacturers, like Chery for example, should assemble their future models in the country.
Thanks to new factories, much more modern than in France, a Spanish worker would be twice as productive as a French worker. In addition, in France, an hour of work costs 38.7 euros, compared to 22.4 euros in Spain according to INSEE figures, not to mention that taxation around work is lower than in France.
Currently, Spain assembles approximately 2.4 million models each year (thermal and electric combined), thus placing the country just behind Germany in Europe.
