en.Wedoany.com Reported - In the first quarter of 2026, plug-in electric vehicles captured a 33.0% share of the French auto market, significantly higher than the 22.9% recorded in the same period of 2025. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 28.1%, while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) made up 4.9%. Compared to 18.2% and 4.8% in the same quarter last year, the BEV share saw substantial growth, while the PHEV share remained largely flat.

Total car sales in France for the first quarter stood at 339,478 units, down approximately 2.5% year-on-year. BEV sales surged 50% year-on-year to 112,086 units, while PHEV sales totaled 19,584 units, flat compared to the same period last year. Mild hybrids and partial hybrids together held a 47% share, continuing to replace traditional fuel powertrains. The market share of pure diesel cars fell to 2.5%, and pure gasoline cars dropped to 14.6%.

In the BEV sales ranking, the Tesla Model Y topped the list with 10,670 registrations, surpassing its previous best quarterly record of 9,363 units set in Q1 2023. The overall sales champion from last year, the Renault 5, followed closely in second place with 10,084 units, up approximately 10% year-on-year. Another Renault model, the Scenic, ranked third with 6,896 units.

Due to a lack of granular data, it is difficult to fully capture the launch dynamics of new models. However, it was observed that affordable BEV models performed well overall, including the Dacia Spring (ranked 18th), the new Renault Twingo (on the edge of the top 20), and the Leapmotor T03 (close to the top 20).

BEV sales in the first quarter of 2026 grew 50% year-on-year, signaling a strong start to the year. During the same period, France's macroeconomic growth slowed, with GDP year-on-year growth declining from 1.1% in Q4 2025 to 0.9%. Overall inflation rose from 0.8% at the end of Q4 to 1.7% at the end of Q1. Interest rates remained stable at 2.25%, while the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) hovered around 50 points at the end of March, slightly below the 50.7 recorded at the end of Q4.

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