While leading traditional automakers have their sights set on producing more than one million electric vehicles per year, they are still playing catch up to market leader Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).
One European country has a goal of having one million electric million vehicles produced by 2027, which could benefit the overall industry, but Tesla may have an advantage.
What Happened: Through the first nine months of 2022, Tesla has produced over 900,000 electric vehicles. A leader worldwide, Tesla is also a leader in a country that could be rapidly pushing for more adoption of electric vehicles.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France has a goal of producing one million electric vehicles by 2027. The comments, made in an interview with LesEchoes, suggested the country does more to support vehicle manufacturers.
“During the past five years, we have distributed 1 million conversion bonuses to the French, which do not only concern electricity but which have already enabled us to reduce CO2 emissions,” Macron said. “In total, we have supported more than 1 million households.”
Macron’s goal is to produce two million electric vehicles in France by 2030. The president suggested the country needed to do more to support its own manufacturers, something that could be negative for Tesla and American automakers.
“More than 80% of electric vehicles purchased (in France) have been imported,” he noted.
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Why It’s Important: While Tesla doesn’t have a factory in France, it does have one in Europe with Gigafactory Berlin. The company could benefit from increased adoption and incentives in France, with Macron saying the country would increase the bonus on purchases of new electric vehicles from 6,000 euros to 7,000 euros.
Tesla could consider opening a factory in France if it got incentives and saw a huge market opportunity. Otherwise, the company would count on strong word of mouth and brand awareness to continue helping with market share over French rivals.
The good news is that Tesla is a current leader in the electric vehicle space in France.
In September, sales of plug-in electric vehicles in France were up 20% in France. New plug-in vehicles registered in France in September totaled 35,835 for the month, representing 24.2% market share of the auto market in the country.
The top-selling electric vehicle in the country for September was the Megane E-Tech from Renault ADR (OTC:RNLSY) with 2,897 units. Renault, a French company, had three vehicles in the top 10 along with one under the Dacia brand, which it owns, giving the company four of the top 10.
French company Peugeot had two of the top 10 places.
Fiat, a unit of Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) had a vehicle rank sixth in the month of September. Volkswagen (OTC:VWAGY) rounded out the top 10 with ID.3 coming in tenth place.
The other vehicle company on the top 10 list was Tesla. The Tesla Model 3 ranked second for the month with 2,202 units. The Tesla Model Y ranked seventh with 1,261 units sold.
In a market dominated by European automotive companies, Tesla ranked two of its vehicles in the top 10.
The data came from L’Avere-France, as shared by InsideEVs.
France pushing more incentives for electric vehicle owners and for more adoption of EVs could ultimately help Tesla. While French automotive companies could benefit the most, don’t count out Tesla continuing to rank in the top 10 in this country with a population of 67 million, the fourth largest in Europe.
Photo: EricBery via Shutterstock
