Battery-electric vehicle sales steadily increased in France, with a record of 16,866 units in October, accounting for a 14% market share. These figures indicate that BEVs saw another month of two-digit increase in France with a 12% growth rate, as per CleanTechnica.
France’s overall auto sales
Pure electric vehicles had a market share of 14% with two-digit growth in September, outselling diesel-powered cars for two consecutive months. Meanwhile, diesel sales fell 26% YoY, and its market share also fell from 19% to 14% over the past year. Based on these data, diesel sales will essentially cease at this rate by 2025.
On the other hand, plugin hybrids saw a slight 2% decline to 11,108 units (8.9% share). PHEVs had their eighth straight month of decline in October, which helped to maintain the BEV/PHEV sales breakdown being evenly distributed (60% in 2022).
As for the year-to-date record, approximately 257,000 vehicles have been registered. Specifically, PEVs had a 21% market share while BEVs only had 13%.
By the end of the year, the market should increase by another couple of percentage points.
Top 20 plugin vehicles in France – October 2022
After a three-month winning streak by the Renault Megane EV, the Peugeot e-208 EV (2,350 units) took the top spot in October, followed by the Megane EV (2,109 units) and the Fiat 500e (1,276 units).
| Rank | Model | October | % |
| 1 | Peugeot 208 EV | 2,350 | 8.4% |
| 2 | Renault Megane EV | 2,109 | 7.5% |
| 3 | Fiat 500e | 1,276 | 4.65 |
| 4 | Tesla Model 3 | 1,256 | 4.5% |
| 5 | Peugeot 3008 PHEV | 981 | 3.5% |
| 6 | Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV | 848 | 3.0% |
| 7 | Renault Twingo EV | 810 | 2.9% |
| 8 | Peugeot 308 PHEV | 760 | 2.7% |
| 9 | MG ZS EV | 663 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Peugeot 2008 EV | 642 | 2.3% |
| 11 | Renault Zoe | 635 | 2.3% |
| 12 | VW ID.3 | 602 | 2.2% |
| 13 | Hyundai Kona EV | 551 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Dacia Spring | 550 | 2.0% |
| 15 | Tesla Model Y | 534 | 1.9% |
| 16 | Hyundai Tucson PHEV | 520 | 1.9% |
| 17 | Mercedes GLA250e PHEV | 485 | 1.7% |
| 18 | Mini Cooper EV | 433 | 1.5% |
| 19 | DS 7 PHEV | 402 | 1.4% |
| 20 | Kia Sportage PHEV | 367 | 1.3% |
| Others | 11,200 | 40.0% | |
| TOTAL | 27,974 | 100% |
With a record 760 registrations, the new Peugeot 308 PHEV finished the month in eighth place. On the lower part of the list was the #18 Mini Cooper EV with 433 units, #19 DS 7 PHEV with 402 units, and #20 Kia Sportage PHEV with 367 units.
Top 20 plugin vehicles in France (Jan – Oct 2022)
The Peugeot e-208 retained the top spot. Its 2,889-unit lead over the brand-new Fiat 500e (13,730) should be sufficient to give it the 2022 Best Seller title with only two months left. They are followed by Dacia Spring, with 13,572 units.
After moving up two spots in October, the Tesla Model 3 is currently ranked fourth. Meanwhile, the #7 Renault Megane EV has 11,263 units.
| Rank | Model | January – October | % |
| 1 | Peugeot 208 EV | 16,461 | 6.4% |
| 2 | Fiat 500e | 13,730 | 5.3% |
| 3 | Dacia Spring | 13,572 | 5.3% |
| 4 | Tesla Model 3 | 11,525 | 4.5% |
| 5 | Renault Twingo EV | 11,512 | 4.5% |
| 6 | Renault Zoe | 11,269 | 4.4% |
| 7 | Renault Megane EV | 11,263 | 4.4% |
| 8 | Peugeot 3008 PHEV | 8,934 | 3.5% |
| 9 | Tesla Model Y | 6,508 | 2.5% |
| 10 | Peugeot 2008 EV | 6,123 | 2.4% |
| 11 | Peugeot 308 PHEV | 5,544 | 2.2% |
| 12 | Hyundai Kona EV | 5,332 | 2.1% |
| 13 | Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV | 5,230 | 2.0% |
| 14 | Mercedes GLC300e/de | 4,858 | 1.9% |
| 15 | Mini Cooper EV | 4,209 | 1.6% |
| 16 | Hyundai Tucson PHEV | 3,751 | 1.5% |
| 17 | DS 7 Crossback PHEV | 3,598 | 1.4% |
| 18 | Kia Niro EV | 3,567 | 1.4% |
| 19 | Citroen e-C4 | 3,497 | 1.4% |
| 20 | MG ZS EV | 3,170 | 1.2% |
| Others | 103,840 | 40.3% | |
| TOTAL | 257,493 | 100% |
The lower part of the table includes the DS 7 Crossback PHEV with 3,598, followed by the #19 Citroen e-C4 with 3,497 and #20 MG ZS EV with 3,170 units.
Top brands in France in plugin vehicle sales (Jan – Oct 2022)
Peugeot leads the top brands in PEV sales from January to October with a 15.1% market share. Renault followed it with 14.7%, and Tesla with 7.0% market share. The top 5 was Fiat, with 5.4% of the market.
Top OEM in France in plugin vehicle sales (Jan -Oct 2022)
Stellantis holds the largest market share of 30.7% compared to its 30.4% in September. It was followed by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi with 21.3%, Hyundai-Kia with 10.8%, Volkswagen Group with 8.8%, and BMW Group with 7.0%.
It is exciting to see how these automakers and vehicles rank by the end of the year. As there is a broader effort in promoting NEVs, new car sales in the future will likely be electric vehicles.
