Electric Cars Propel May Uptick in French New‑Car Sales

Overview

• The Plateforme Automobile reported on Monday that new‑car registrations rose 3.68% in May to 128,484 units, with electric vehicles jumping 81% month‑on‑month to 37,412 and accounting for about 29% of May sales.
• Electric adoption has climbed sharply year‑to‑date, with EV registrations up 55% to 185,714 and a 27.8% market share over the first five months, while the overall new‑car market is down 0.64% versus 2025 and remains well below 2019 levels.
• Private buyers drove the May recovery, with individual purchases up about 15% and one in three private purchases now electric, while corporate fleets grew only about 1%, showing a split in demand by buyer type.
• Market shares shifted by manufacturer in May: Stellantis and Renault recorded declines near 7.7%, Toyota rose about 4.2%, and Chinese brands such as BYD, Xpeng and Leapmotor posted strong volume gains.
• The used market is changing too, with total used transactions down ~4% but used EV sales more than doubling to 22,932, a pattern helped by cheaper second‑hand EV prices and near‑term policy moves including the postponement of the retroactive used‑car malus to 1 January 2027 and eased low‑emission zone enforcement for 2026.