In September the French passenger car market was less affected by the impact of WLTP than the other big European countries. What about October? Well, France had to face a drop of “only” 1.5% and was once again in a better shape than Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. While the Private Market increased its volume by 3.4% True Fleets remained in the red and were down by 3.0%. Dealerships/Manufacturer and Short-Term Rental registrations were significantly lower (- 10.4%) than October 2017 and consequently the share of these “Special Channels” was the lowest in 2018 so far. This really underlines the reciprocation between these more tactical segments on the one hand and the direct end customer channels of private and fleet on the other hand.
Brand performance
As usual two home brands dominated the fleet market: every second company car in 2018 was either a Peugeot or a Renault and the lead is constantly alternating between these two. In the first ten months this year both were in front five times. In October it was Peugeot’s turn again and it was well deserved: the very solid growth of 9.3% in a declining overall market led to a market share of 29.6% which is an all-time high for the PSA brand. The SUV models 3008 (number one model in True Fleets) and 5008 and the Compact Class model 308 all had double-digit growth rates compared to October last year. Additional support came from the Peugeot Traveller with a remarkable + 74.4%.
Renault, Citroën and Volkswagen on ranks number two, three and four were all in the red. For Toyota in 5th place the situation was much brighter with an outstanding + 69.7% which allowed the Japanese manufacturer to overtake Mercedes, Ford and BMW. Many Toyota models increased their registrations, but the Yaris was shining exceptionally brightly. With a plus of 80.6% it was not only Toyota’s top seller in fleets but also put itself into rank number 10, gaining no less than thirteen places.
With Škoda in 9th place ahead of Opel we saw another strong performer in October. With a phenomenal + 86.5% the manufacturer from the Czech Republic scored a new record market share. Next to the SUV models of Kodiaq and Karoq, the Škoda Octavia was especially remarkable and achieved its highest monthly volume ever in the French fleet market.
Fuel type performance
As you will probably know, Paris is very advanced in terms of banning Diesel cars from its roads. A few days ago a large group of suburban municipalities agreed to ban all diesel-fuelled cars registered before 2001 from the A86 beltway, starting in July 2019. This would extend the ban far into the suburbs and affect a significant additional number of cars and their owners.
But how is the current situation in Paris regarding fuel types? For January-October 2018 the share of Alternative fuel types in Paris was the highest across all regions of France with 11.0%. This result is not so much driven by full EVs, as their share in Paris was only slightly higher than the average for the whole country (2.3% vs. 1.9%). No, it’s the percentage of Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids which stands out. While the average in France was 4.9% in Paris 8.7% of all new cars registered on fleets were equipped with a Hybrid powertrain.
