France produced as many passenger cars in 2023 as in 1960
- We recently talked about the evolution of Italian automobile production (production carried out on Italian soil) between 1950 and 2023. It seems interesting to analyse the production volumes in the other major European automobile producing countries.
- France has long remained one of the two largest automobile producers in Europe, behind Germany and ahead of Spain and the United Kingdom. While Italy has never exceeded 2 million cars produced in a year, France came close to 3.5 million units produced in 1989.
- Growth in passenger car production was continuous from 1950 to 1973, increasing from 300,000 to 2,900,000 units. The oil crisis of 1973 caused French production to decrease from 2,900,000 to 2,500,000 passenger cars. Peak production was reached in 1989, with nearly 3,500,000 units. The following years were mediocre, with the production volume falling to 2,000,000 units in 1995. The relaunch of production took place between 1996 and 2004, notably thanks to the success of new models such as the Renault Scénic compact MPV.
- After 2004, we unfortunately witnessed a continued decline in French automobile production, mainly due to the failure of new models in the higher segments (D and E) and the decision to relocate many models outside of France. In 2023, France produced less than 1 million passenger cars, placing itself in fourth position on the European continent, behind Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic, but ahead of Slovakia and the United Kingdom.