Registrations of new diesel cars have collapsed since 2012 but these cars still represent the majority of cars driving in France, while hybrids and electrics are arriving on the roads.
In total, 39.3 million cars were on the road in France as of January 1, 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The share of diesel in this fleet is decreasing, but these models remain in the majority at 50.7%.
Once encouraged by taxation, diesel sales have collapsed, particularly since the Dieselgate scandal, and they represented only 8% of new car sales over the first seven months of 2024 (-26%), according to figures from AAA Data.
But if they are increasingly rare among manufacturers, these diesel models remain the most sought after on the second-hand market, with express resale times, according to the Le Bon coin website.
At the same time, hybrid models (with a gasoline engine but also a small electric motor and battery that cannot be plugged in to recharge them) have seen their sales explode.
Long promoted by Toyota, now present at many manufacturers, hybrids represent almost half of sales in September (nearly 45%). They represented 4.4% of the French automobile fleet on January 1, 2024.
The electric car market, supported for several years by an ecological purchase bonus, exploded from 2021 before slowing down since spring 2024, to 17% market share over the first nine months of the year.
The gasoline-LPG dual-fuel engine, which was the main alternative engine to conventional thermal engines, has been overtaken by electric and rechargeable hybrid engines since 2021, notes the ministry.
29% of cars in circulation have a Crit’Air classification of at least 3 (i.e. diesel cars registered before 2011 and gasoline cars registered before 2006), and could therefore be affected by access restrictions to large metropolises, starting with Paris and Lyon on January 1, 2025.
/ATS
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