Tesla sales in France continue to unscrew in February – Liberation

In full modernization of its range but potentially slowed down also by The behavior of his boss Elon Musk, Tesla sees her sales continue their decline in France in February. And not just a little: the American manufacturer of electric cars saw its sales drop by 26 % over a year, with 2,395 vehicles registered in February, according to figures published this Saturday, March 1 by the automotive platform (PFA).

Electric car sales remained stable in France, with 18 % of the market in February. The Renault 5 and the Citroën C3, launched at the end of 2024, notably recovered market share of the American manufacturer. « There was a significant redistribution in one year, rather for the benefit of European manufacturers »underlined Marc Mortureux de la PFA, who represents manufacturers and large equipment manufacturers.

At European level, Tesla sales had already been almost divided by two in January. The company had announced at the end of January a drop of 1 % of its deliveries in 2024 in the world, the first decline in its history, while it anticipated « A slight increase ».

The group's sales are skating because of a change of range, with the arrival of low -cost models, whose production should start in the first half, said Tesla at the end of January. But the repeated projections of Elon Musk, especially his Nazi salvation during the inauguration of Donald Trump, And its extreme political action alongside the American president can also play on the choice of consumers.

European customs duties are also starting to have their effect on imports of Chinese electric cars. The MG brand, owned by the Chinese giant Saic, left its electric offensive aside to reposition itself on hybrid, less taxed models.

Electric car registrations were also supported by massive purchases from business fleets. Sales to individuals have dropped by 29 %, suffering from the comparison with the month of February 2024 which had seen social leased doping the registrations of electricity.

The French automotive market has generally remained sluggish in February, with 141,568 registrations (-0.72 % over a year), still far from the figures before the COVID epidemic. Hybrid models have taken control of the market and represent 44.3 % of registrations over the first two months of the year, against 25.4 % petrol models and a handful of diesel (4.6 %) and 17.7 % for electric models.