Shoppers at the Citroën showroom on the Champs-Élysées were conspicuous mostly by their absence on a recent weekday
wrote
David Jolly some time ago in the New York Times.
Earnest-looking employees outnumbered the lone visitor by at least 10 to 1.
… Down the avenue at the
Renault showroom, business was hardly brisker.
Only at the nearby Mercedes-Benz showroom, displaying German automotive arts, was there much sign of life.
The dormant French dealerships signify the main problem facing the country’s auto industry: Consumers in
France do not seem very interested in French cars. Or any cars at all, in many cases.
In France, vehicle sales last year were the lowest in 15 years, falling
below 1.9 million from a 2009 peak of 2.3 million, according to Georges
Dieng, an analyst at Natixis Securities. And even those who are
prospective buyers often prefer non-French makes.
… In contrast to the United States, where carmakers had a bumper year,
France’s 2012 sales fell by 13.9 percent, outpacing the 8.2 percent
decline in the overall European market, according to the European
Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Industry officials expect another
gloomy year in 2013.
… The flagging appetite of consumers is a significant economic problem for
France. Its auto industry, dominated by Citroën’s parent, PSA Peugeot
Citroën, and Renault, directly employs about 220,000 people; thousands
more jobs depend on it indirectly. The government, which owns a 15
percent stake in Renault, has called the sector a strategic priority,
and plays an active role — some might say actively meddles — in the
industry’s affairs.
The downturn is not France’s alone. In 2007, before the global financial
crisis, the overall European market peaked at just under 16 million
newly registered passenger vehicles. Last year, the figure had fallen to
just over 12 million, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Wherever the market bottoms out, French automakers, like many European
manufacturers, have more factory capacity and workers than they can
profitably use. And that may be the case for years to come — especially
in France, where the job-cutting plans announced so far by Renault and
PSA Peugeot Citroën
have been criticized by many analysts as
insufficiently daring, even as
they encounter fierce resistance from
workers and, in some cases, government officials.
… It is not hard to see why young people would have their doubts about the
merits of car ownership. For a start, operating a car is an expensive
proposition: Gasoline goes for the euro per liter equivalent of
about $7.65 a gallon in France, according to the Economy Ministry, more than double the $3.30-a-gallon average the Energy Information Administration
reported for the United States in mid-January.
And unlike the United States, where driver’s education classes are often
an inexpensive part of the high school curriculum, simply obtaining a
driver’s license is a major obstacle. In France, there is a minimum cost
of more than $1,600 for classes needed to prepare for the written exam
and the even more difficult driving test. Nearly 1.4 million people take
the French licensing tests each year, but only 57 percent pass; those
who fail often spend thousands more preparing for a retest.
