How to adapt to electric vehicles, and quickly? This is the question that obsesses all those involved in the Paris Motor Show, which is being held in Paris, Porte de Versailles, from October 14 to 20. “We would have liked it to last one more weekend”assures Serge Gachot, who organizes this car festival and managed to bring forty-eight brands. It was not won. The Geneva Motor Show, reduced to a bare minimum in February, has thrown in the towel and will no longer meet in 2025. The Paris Motor Show is supported by Luca de Meo, the general director of Renault and president of the Association of European Manufacturers of automobiles (ACEA), which wants to preserve the side « glamour » in the sector and is playing big this year with the launch of the electric R5.
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The Bavarian manufacturer BMW was second on the list of entrants: the Paris show is held alternately with that of Munich, the city where the German company has its headquarters. For Vincent Salimon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BMW France, these two groups need each other to prosper. “We need a major European exhibition every year to support industry, passion, innovation”he assures. Everyone wants to get the sector out of its depression and not leave this role to the Chinese alone. They do not skimp on resources: the manufacturer XPeng, allied with Volkswagen, comes with its flying car, a small concentrate of technology.
The manufacturers’ equation for the coming years is delicate. In France, over the first nine months of 2024, registrations are down 1.8% compared to 2023. And compared to the pre-Covid period, in 2019, they fell by 23.2%. The slowdown accelerated in the third quarter, worries Mobilians, which brings together car dealers, “with a drop of 12% in registrations and even 12.4% for electric vehicles”. This depression worries manufacturers. At this level of sales in France (around 1.8 million vehicles), “we no longer renew the park, which ages by six months every year”regrets Vincent Salimon, who asks for more visibility on the rules, bonuses or penalties.
Threat of heavy fines
By announcing the tightening of the penalty until 2027 and a reduction in the budget devoted to the bonus, the Barnier government has provided the beginnings of a response which will not, however, satisfy the sector: this increase in penalties is widely criticized by professional organizations. “It’s a double punishment”launched, during a press conference, Luc Chatel, president of the Automotive Platform, which represents manufacturers and equipment suppliers. On the one hand, sales of electric cars are slipping. “And, on the other hand, we are going to be taxed on the historic activity (petrol and diesel engines), which still makes up 85% of the market”he explained. But the government’s approach sets a clear course: that of the electrification of the fleet, by penalizing the most polluting models.
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