PARIS (Reuters) – France’s car market, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, is set to fall to its lowest level since 1975 this year, the CCFA French automobile federation said on Tuesday.
The CCFA maintained its forecast for a 25% to 30% drop in the French car market in 2020, though a spokesman said the fall would be at the lower end of the range, meaning closer to 26%.
“There are still some uncertainties around December, including around the demand for hire cars people might use to go to ski stations if they remain closed,” CCFA spokesman Francois Roudier said. “But the catastrophic scenario of a 30% fall (this year) is no longer on the table.
November car registrations in France were down 27.03% on a year earlier. Car dealerships had to close during government-enforced lockdowns to contain the pandemic and consumer confidence has also taken a big knock, surveys show.
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Writing by Sarah White. Editing by Jane Merriman)
