Despite a better month of March, Tesla registrations continue their sharp decline in France over a year – Liberation
Tesla fans will see Tesla registrations in France in the figures a positive development, when Those who hate the brand of Elon Musk will affirm that it remains in serious difficulty. And both camps will be right. With 3,157 vehicles sold in March, according to figures published this Tuesday, April 1 by the automotive platform (PFA), Tesla realizes its best month since the start of the year. But, compared to the figures of March 2024, the decline remains severe (-36.8 %). Worse: from January to March 2025, Tesla sales (6,693 vehicles) fell 41.1 % compared to the same period last year.
This best month of March in volumes is not explained by a more positive appreciation Elon Musk And of its action but, as expected, by deliveries of Model Y. Almost at the start of the year due to the arrival of a new version, the vehicles began to arrive at their recipients in March. The end of April will therefore make it possible to measure more precisely the evolution of sales in France, as in Europe or China, between what was the evolution of the range and the impact Nazi greetings of his boss.
More generally, the new cars market is doing very badly. In March, he dropped by 14.5 % over a year, according to PFA figures. With 153,842 registrations, the market returns to its March 2022 level, while it was paralyzed by the shortages of electronic fleas and the start of the war in Ukraine. Over the first three months of the year, the French automotive market fell 7.8 %. On the electric side, if sales drop in volumes, their share of sales remained stable over a year, at 19 %.
And a group continues its descent into hell: Stellantis fell 17 % over a year. An evolution that could operate from a small revolution: even if the Renault group drops very slightly (-0.99 %), it barely sold 150 cars less than the group of Peugeot, Citroën or Fiat. The European number 1 and French number 3 Volkswagen also fell 4.8 %, slowed in particular by its Seat brand.
« Consumers are waiting » in a complex economic context,, commented the president of the PFA, Luc Chatel, on Radio Classique. The sharp drop in March is also the consequence of « Tax choice » From the government, according to Luc Chatel, with the entry into force on March 1 of new penalties on thermal cars which is accompanied by the severe stroke of plane on the aid for the purchase of electric cars. A sign that the increase in the penalty was more a way of replaying the boxes than accompanying the transition to less carbon vehicles.
