France sees car sales slump in January: industry

French car sales in January fell 6.5 percent against the same month last year, extending a run of poor sales in the key European market, an industry group said Sunday.

The 107,157 new cars registered in January was one of the lowest figures for the month in the past 15 years, the Plateforme Automobile group said. Carmakers had already seen sales fall more than five percent in 2025 against 2024.

Sales of electric cars rose 28 percent during the month, but have not eased the industry’s concerns.

“The surge in electric car sales recorded in January demonstrates the influence of purchase incentives and obscures the market picture,” commented Marie-Laure Nivot of AAA Data.

The Stellantis group saw sales fall 2.7 percent. Renault group brands were up 1.1 percent, but Toyota saw sales fall 15.5 percent during the month.

Industry experts say that political and economic uncertainty in France is putting people off buying cars. Car sales across Europe grew 1.8 percent in 2025 though, France, Italy and Belgium saw major falls.