In a French car market that decreases by another 5% in 2025 (YOY), Renault Group has sold more cars than Stellantis in the hexagon: it has reached almost 26.4% market share selling Renaults, Dacias, and Alpines, against 25.8% of share for the 14 Stellantis brands.
If one counts LCVs into the equation, Stellantis is still the number one, but by a close margin.
Difficult market
The French automotive market is still suffering. Compared to the pre-COVID year 2019, the car and LCV market lost no less than one-third of its weight, selling 1.6 million cars and 360,505 LCVs last year, compared to 2.2 million cars and almost 480,000 LCVs in 2019.
The French government’s social leasing incentive has supported the market in the last quarter, but couldn’t offset the severe decline in professional car leasing.
On the contrary, the new cars are a lot greener than before: pure electric cars still increased in sales by 12% over the year, representing 20% of the total market and even 25% in December. Fully electric cars have now almost surpassed petrol cars (21% market share) and, for a long time already, diesel cars, which are reduced to 5% of the new-car market. Hybrid cars of all sorts remain the most popular in France, with 51% market share representing more than half of the total market.
The declining French market has also led to the near disappearance of specific brands, such as Volvo, Land Rover, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. Even Toyota is receding, with not enough models eligible for the French ecosocore, while brands like Skoda and Cupra, both of the VW Group, are doing well.
“There’s a distinct move toward ‘made in France or made in Europe’,” notes Xavier Duchemin, CEO of Stellantis France. Also, Chinese brands grow more slowly in France than in other European markets. Last December, the top 5 of full-electric models were Renault 5, Peugeot 208, Renault Scenic, Peugeot 2008, and Renault 4. No Tesla or Chinese-made. MG remains the biggest Chinese brand, with 2% of the total market; BYD now has 0.8%, but most other Chinese makes are still struggling to get ‘wheels on the ground’.
Renault on top, Stellantis is still struggling
Renault Group has sold 1.2% more cars in a market that is receding. The best-seller in France is still the Clio (5th generation), with the Dacia Sandero in third place, while the R5 is number one in the full-electric segment. Trafic is number one in the LCV market, followed by the Kangoo.
Stellantis France CEO Xavier Duchemin admits that 2025 was a ‘reconstruction year’ for Stellantis. He had a lot of issues to solve, amongst others, appeasing the dealers who had had it with former big boss Carlos Tavares, as well as the Takata airbag debacle and problems with the distribution chain of the PureTech petrol engines.
Meanwhile, Stellantis lost 7% in sales compared to 2024, and no less than 47% compared to pre-COVID numbers in 2019. “The French car market is one of the least dynamic in Europe,” comments Duchemin, “but we have taken the lead in selling electric cars, half of the social leasing cars are from us, and out of 100 LCVs sold in 2025, 42 came from Stellantis.”
Duchemin also foresees a doubling of Leapmotor’s sales (from 4,000 to 8,000), a young Chinese manufacturer in which Stellantis holds a 20% stake. “According to our surveys, Leapmotor clients are 4 to 5 years younger than average. Very often, they changed from second-hand to new for the first time,” Duchemin rejoices. With their new offer of smaller and more affordable models at more moderate prices, he sees a market restart in 2027. Other independent analysts think 2027 will be the year of the reboost.
