EVs Take 34.5% Share In France — Renault & Tesla Dominate

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The second quarter of 2026 saw plugin EVs take 34.5% share in France, up from 23.9% in Q2 2025. BEV share grew very strongly YoY, while PHEV share was slightly down. Overall Q2 auto volume was 457,688 units, up some 6% YoY. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling BEV in Q2, just ahead of the Renault 5.

2026 Q2 auto sales saw combined plugin EVs take 34.5% share in France, with full electrics (BEVs) at 28.3% and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) at 6.2%. These figures compare YoY against 23.9% combined, 17.1% BEVs and 6.8% PHEVs.

In volume terms, BEVs were up a massive 75% YoY to 120,479 units, whilst PHEVs were down around 4%, at 28,281 units. This significant BEV boost is partly due to improvements in incentives in 2026, and partly due to soaring fuel prices.

Both petrol-only and diesel-only continue a steep decline (now summing to 17.9% share) with even default powertrains now being HEV or MHEV (some degree of electric assist). As emissions rules tighten (and oil continues to be expensive), these will be replaced by plugins, and eventually almost entirely BEVs.

Q2 saw a slight uptick in petrol-only sales, but this is likely just a temporary “selling-off old stock” and they will be back to decline in the coming quarters.

Best-Selling BEV Models

The best-selling BEV in Q2 2026 was again the Tesla model Y (11,695 units), with – once-again – the Renault 5 very close behind (10,579 units). Indeed, all of the top 3 spots saw a similar pattern to last quarter, though with the lead 2 models pulling a bit further ahead from the Renault Scenic in third (now dipping to 6,233 units).

Renault did very well to take 4 out of the top 6 spots, with the new Renault Twingo (in 6th) already ramping to strong volumes since its March debut.

The Twingo is very close to the Dacia Spring on specs, with just a 10% larger battery (and range), for about 5% higher official MSRP. Even noting substantial real world discounting on the Spring, the Twingo is additionally eligible for the  “Coup de Pouce” bonus incentive (ballpark of €3.5k to €5.7k, depending on household income), whereas the Spring is ineligible.

As a result, the Twingo ends up being around €2000 less expensive than the Spring, all said and done. This largely explains why the Renault has close to double the sales of the Dacia. Either way, it’s good to see more examples of affordable (if rather short range) BEVs coming available.

As usual, there is very limited publicly available data on model sales, so we can’t detect the initial foray of new debutants onto the French market. Take a look at nearby European markets to get a sense of what new models are becoming available.

Outlook

With the revised 2026 incentive structure as a carrot, plus the real-world stick of high and volatile oil prices, BEVs have seen a huge step up in Q2 2026, and this trend will likely continue in some form throughout the rest of the year.

The French macroeconomy remains cool. From YoY GDP growth of 1.1% in 2025 Q4, there was a slowdown to 0.9% in 2026 Q1, and a forecast further drop to 0.6% for Q2 (official figures not year published). Headline inflation has hovered either side of 2% in recent months. Interest rates, which had been flat for 12 months at 2.25%, stepped up to 2.5% since early June. Manufacturing PMI has hovered around 50 points in 2026.

What do you expect the remainder of 2026 to reveal about the EV transition in France? Please share your comments and thoughts in the discussion below.