French automobile market: the electric car failed to take off in 2024
As in 2023, the Tesla Model Y has established itself as the best-selling electric car in France in 2024. © Les Numériques
The year 2024 should have been that of the democratization of the electric car, with the arrival of more affordable models and the establishment of social leasing. However, at the dawn of the new CAFE standard scale, which imposes lowered CO2 emission thresholds on manufacturers in 2025, the market share of electric cars in France remained stable in 2024.
Thus, electric models accounted for 17% of registrations in France last year, as much as in 2023reveal the figures of the Automotive platform (PFA), all in a market down 3.2%.
Tesla Model Y remains number one
If the Renault 5 E-Tech made a remarkable entry into the market at the end of the year, with already 11,299 units registered in 2024 according to NGC-Data, it is currently only ranked 7th. of the classification of electrics. 1st place remains occupied by the Tesla Model Y, also the 10th best-selling car in France in 2024 for all energies combined, with 28,576 registrations.
No longer very young, the Peugeot e-208 nevertheless managed to climb to 2nd position in the ranking with 23,602 units, ahead of the Renault Megane E-Tech registered in 16,800 copies in 2024. The Citroën ë-C3, which has become the one of the most accessible electric cars on the market, only sold 8,252 copies, despite its availability through leasing social. However, it could be the consequence of a launch at the very least tumultuous more than a lack of demand, while many customers are still waiting to be delivered.
One of the obstacles to the take-off of the electric car in 2024 has been the forfeiture of the ecological bonus for certain models whose production is too polluting, such as those produced in China. There Dacia Spring has particularly paid the price, penalizing its sales and more generally those of affordable electric cars. For 2025, the bonus has also been revised downwards, which could not help the situation.
However, manufacturers are facing the wall, since the year 2025 marks the arrival of new European CO2 emission quotas via the CAFE standard. From 115.1 g of CO2/km since 2020, they drop to only 93.6 g of CO2/km this year, which requires manufacturers to green their sales as quickly as possible. They will be able to rely on new, more accessible models, such as those launched in 2024, but also on future Hyundai Inster and others Fiat Grande Panda.
