In 2025, new car registrations in France are expected to drop 5% from 2024, with nine out of ten French people finding vehicles too expensive. The average price rose 24% from 2020 to 2024, from €28,107 to €34,872, per the Institut Mobilités en transition.
Jean-Pierre Robin's chronicle highlights a crisis in the French automotive sector. The 2026 barometer from the Cetelem observatory, surveying 15,774 motorists across Europe including 3,144 in France, shows 90% of French people deem new cars unaffordable. This is no mere perception: data from the independent Institut Mobilités en transition (IMT) confirm a 24% rise in the average new vehicle price from 2020 to 2024.
This surge stems from multiple factors piling up since the Covid-19 pandemic. Factory shutdowns in 2020 led to a global chip shortage, critical for the auto industry. The Ukraine war drove up raw material costs, as manufacturers shifted to higher-end models to boost margins. Accelerated vehicle electrification has also played a role.
Robin wryly notes that the French worker, once the builder of these machines, can no longer afford one—nor possess the skills to make it. This points to a 2025 marked by ongoing sales decline, underscoring the economic and social challenges in the sector.
