From dizzying historic production heights to the resilient hum of electric vehicle assembly lines today, France’s auto industry is navigating a complex road of reinvention and recovery.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, France produced 1,634,044 motor vehicles, marking a 9.2% decline from 2021
- Renault Group manufactured 2,079,620 vehicles globally in 2022, with significant French production at sites like Flins and Douai
- PSA Peugeot Citroën (now Stellantis) produced 1,872,000 vehicles in France in 2019 before merger impacts
- New registrations in France reached 1,786,645 vehicles in 2022, down 9.2% from 2021
- Passenger car registrations in France: 1,557,216 units in 2022
- Electric vehicle registrations surged 37% to 380,600 in 2023 H1
- French auto industry employed 635,000 people directly in 2022
- Automotive manufacturing jobs: 220,000 in France 2022
- Equipment suppliers employed 410,000 workers in 2022
- France exported €47.2 billion in automotive products in 2022
- Auto vehicle exports: 2.4 million units from France in 2022
- Top export destination Germany: €12B vehicles 2022
- R&D spending by French auto industry: €7.2 billion in 2022
- Renault Group R&D budget: €2.8 billion annually, 10% of sales
- Stellantis invested €50B in tech over 2021-2025, France focus €10B
Despite recent declines in production, the French auto industry is focusing heavily on electric vehicle manufacturing.
Domestic Sales and Registration
- New registrations in France reached 1,786,645 vehicles in 2022, down 9.2% from 2021
- Passenger car registrations in France: 1,557,216 units in 2022
- Electric vehicle registrations surged 37% to 380,600 in 2023 H1
- Renault brand held 23.5% market share with 419,000 registrations in 2022
- Peugeot registrations: 410,456 units in France 2022
- Citroën sales in France: 255,000 units 2022
- Light commercial vehicle registrations: 519,000 in 2022
- Hybrid vehicle registrations doubled to 240,000 in 2022
- Dacia brand registrations: 188,000 units, fastest growing in France 2022
- Plug-in hybrid sales: 62,000 units in France 2022
- SUV registrations dominated with 55% market share, 850,000 units 2022
- In Jan 2023, registrations dropped 20% to 152,000 units
- Tesla registrations in France: 46,000 in 2022
- Fiat registrations: 120,000 units 2022 France
- Average vehicle price in France rose 8% to €28,500 in 2022
- Used car sales: 5.4 million transactions in 2022
- Battery electric vehicle (BEV) share: 12.6% of registrations in 2022
- Volkswagen group sales France: 280,000 units 2022
- 2023 full year registrations: 1.77 million, slight recovery
- Renault Clio top seller with 104,000 registrations 2022
- Peugeot 208 registrations: 95,000 units 2022
- Diesel share fell to 28% of registrations in 2022
- Fleet sales (companies): 45% of total registrations 2022
- Private individual registrations: 55% or 980,000 units 2022
- In 2023 Q1, EV registrations up 25% to 110,000
- Toyota France sales: 105,000 hybrids dominant 2022
- Market contraction 2020: registrations down 25% to 1.89 million
Domestic Sales and Registration Interpretation
Amid a shrinking market and soaring prices, France’s 2022 auto landscape became a tale of electrifying ambition and SUV obsession, where Renault clung to its crown while everyone else scrambled for a plug.
Employment and Labor
- French auto industry employed 635,000 people directly in 2022
- Automotive manufacturing jobs: 220,000 in France 2022
- Equipment suppliers employed 410,000 workers in 2022
- Renault Group France workforce: 130,000 employees as of 2023
- Stellantis France: 90,000 direct jobs in 2022
- R&D personnel in French auto: 80,000 engineers and technicians 2022
- Job losses 2020: 50,000 in supply chain due to COVID
- Women in French auto industry: 22% of workforce 2022, up from 18% in 2015
- Apprenticeships: 35,000 young people trained annually in auto sector
- Average salary in auto manufacturing: €42,000 gross annual 2022
- Temporary contracts: 15% of auto jobs in France 2022
- Stellantis announced 5,000 job cuts in France by 2025
- Supplier network: 4,500 companies employing 500,000 indirectly
- Unemployment rate in auto hotspots like Nord-Pas-de-Calais: 12% 2022
- Training centers: 150 CFA auto-specific in France
- Renault job preservation plan saved 10,000 posts in 2020
- Age average workforce: 44 years in manufacturing 2022
- 2023 layoffs: 2,000 at Stellantis Mulhouse
- Union density: 25% in French auto compared to 8% national average
- Digital skills gap: 20,000 unfilled IT jobs in auto 2023
- Regional employment: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 150,000 jobs
- Turnover rate: 5% annual in auto manufacturing 2022
- Inclusion programs hired 5,000 disabled workers since 2018
Employment and Labor Interpretation
While the French auto industry remains a massive economic engine employing over half a million people directly and boasting a proud 25% unionization rate, it is simultaneously sputtering with the anxieties of an aging workforce, a stark digital skills gap, looming job cuts, and the persistent challenge of making itself more inclusive and attractive to a new generation.
International Trade
- France exported €47.2 billion in automotive products in 2022
- Auto vehicle exports: 2.4 million units from France in 2022
- Top export destination Germany: €12B vehicles 2022
- Imports of vehicles to France: €36.8 billion in 2022
- Trade surplus in auto parts: €6.5B in 2022
- Renault exports 70% of French production, 1.2M vehicles 2022
- Stellantis exported 1.1M vehicles from France 2022 to 80 countries
- EU exports: 85% of French auto exports 2022
- China imports from France: €2.1B auto goods 2022
- US market: French auto exports €4.5B mainly parts 2022
- Import from Germany: 450,000 vehicles to France 2022
- CKD exports (knock-down kits): €1.2B value 2022
- 2023 H1 exports down 15% to €20B due to chip crisis
- Top export model Peugeot 208: 200,000 units abroad 2022
- Africa exports: 150,000 vehicles from France 2022
- Tariff impacts: Post-Brexit UK exports down 10% to €3B
- Parts exports to Italy: €5B 2022
- Import growth Chinese EVs: 5,000 units 2023
- Trade balance vehicles: -€10B deficit 2022
- Spain imports from France: 300,000 vehicles 2022
International Trade Interpretation
France's automotive engine is humming a confident tune, exporting high-value parts and European bestsellers, even if the chorus is occasionally drowned out by the booming stereo of imported German cars and the quiet but growing hum of Chinese electric vehicles.
Production and Manufacturing
- In 2022, France produced 1,634,044 motor vehicles, marking a 9.2% decline from 2021
- Renault Group manufactured 2,079,620 vehicles globally in 2022, with significant French production at sites like Flins and Douai
- PSA Peugeot Citroën (now Stellantis) produced 1,872,000 vehicles in France in 2019 before merger impacts
- French automotive production included 394,465 passenger cars in Q1 2023, down 18.5% YoY
- In 2021, France's auto factories output 1,682,586 light vehicles
- Renault's Cléon plant produced over 300,000 engines annually as of 2022
- Stellantis' Sochaux plant assembled 370,000 vehicles in 2022
- French truck production reached 22,946 units in 2022
- In 2023 H1, French auto production fell 20.1% to 688,400 units
- Renault's Douai factory shifted to produce 500,000 EVs by 2025 target
- France's bus production was 3,214 units in 2022
- Stellantis Mulhouse plant output 250,000 Peugeot 3008 SUVs in 2022
- In 2020, pandemic-hit French production dropped to 1,461,121 vehicles
- Renault Flins plant repurposed for 200,000 reconditioned vehicles/year by 2024
- French van production hit 148,000 units in 2022
- Total French OEM parts production value €25 billion in 2022
- In Q3 2023, production rose 7.8% to 379,600 units
- Historic peak French production 3,654,823 vehicles in 2005
- 2023 full-year production estimated at 1.5 million vehicles, down 10%
- Renault's Dieppe plant produces 60,000 Alpine sports cars targeted annually
- French electric vehicle production share reached 15% in 2023
- Stellantis Vigo plant (France-linked) but French sites produced 400,000 hybrids
- In 2019, France produced 2.2 million vehicles including CKD exports
- Sandouville plant (Renault) assembles 80,000 Master vans yearly
- French forging and casting for autos: 1.2 million tons steel processed 2022
- 2022 French motorcycle production 12,500 units
- Total capacity utilization in French auto plants averaged 75% in 2022
- Billancourt historic site now R&D but past peak 1 million/year
- French Tier 1 suppliers produced €50B components in 2022
- In 2023 Q4 projection: 450,000 vehicles produced
Production and Manufacturing Interpretation
While Renault and Stellantis soldier on with ambitious plans for engines and EVs, the persistent, decade-long decline in overall French car production suggests the national industry is trying to win the future while simultaneously losing the present.
Research Development and Innovation
- R&D spending by French auto industry: €7.2 billion in 2022
- Renault Group R&D budget: €2.8 billion annually, 10% of sales
- Stellantis invested €50B in tech over 2021-2025, France focus €10B
- Patents filed by French auto firms: 2,500 in 2022
- EV battery R&D: €1.5B French public-private funding 2023
- Hydrogen tech investments: €500M by 2024 in France
- Autonomous driving tests: 5,000 km daily on French roads 2023
- Software-defined vehicles: Renault invests €1B in VC 2022-2025
- ACC joint-venture battery gigafactory: €2B investment near Douai
- R&D tax credit (CIR) claims: €3B for auto sector 2022
- AI patents in auto: 400 filed by French labs 2022
- Connectivity tech: 4G/5G in 80% new French cars 2023
- Sustainable materials R&D: 200 projects funded €100M 2022
- Stellantis software hub in France: 3,000 engineers by 2024
- Quantum computing for simulations: Pilot with Renault 2023
- 30 R&D centers in France, employing 50,000
- Electrification roadmap: 100% EV target 2030, €20B invest
- ADAS development: Level 3 autonomy tested 2023
- Recycling batteries: 95% target by 2030, R&D €200M
- Collaborative platforms: 50 projects France 2030 plan €1B
- Cybersecurity for vehicles: 150 experts hired 2022
- Biomechanics crash tests: New lab in Poitiers 2023
- Predictive maintenance AI: Reduces downtime 20%, deployed 2023
- France 2030 auto allocation: €2.3 billion for innovation
- Open innovation startups: 200 partnered with OEMs 2022
Research Development and Innovation Interpretation
France is betting its automotive future not just on horsepower, but on brainpower, pouring billions into everything from battery gigafactories to quantum computing labs, in a race to reinvent the car as a clean, connected, and cunning machine before its global rivals do.
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