The overall passenger car market in France rebounded 46% year-over-year in May to 141,041, while the plug-in electric car sales more than tripled.
In total, some 25,175 new plug-ins were registered last month (up 233% year-over-year). Passenger plug-ins (24,457) account for about 17.3% of the car market, which is one of the best results ever.
Plug-in hybrids continue to sell at a slightly higher volume than all-electric:
- Passenger BEVs: 11,564 - up 181% at 8.2% market share
- Passenger PHEVs: 12,893 - up 321% at 9.1% market share
- Light commercial BEVs: 656 - up 65% at 1.8% market share
- Light commercial PHEVs: 62
- Total plug-ins: 25,175 - up 233%
Plug-in car sales in France – May 2021

So far this year, the plug-in segment increased 140% year-over-year to over 111,000.
Sales year-to-date:
- Passenger BEVs: 51612 - up 65%
- Passenger and Light commercial PHEVs: 55689 - up 328%
- Light commercial BEVs: 4,335 - up 89%
- Total plug-ins: 111,636 - up 140%
Cumulatively, more than 600,000 plug-in cars were sold in France, including almost 394,000 all-electric and almost 188,000 plug-in hybrids.

*some data on the charts are estimated
Models
Renault ZOE finally accelerated from a couple of slower months and was the best-selling electric model in May with 2,577 registrations.
Interestingly, the Tesla Model 3 was the second-best with 2,111 units, ahead of Peugeot 3008 PHEV (1,708) and Peugeot e-208 (1,199).
Detailed numbers of plug-in car registrations provided by L’Avere-France:

Thanks to strong monthly results, the Tesla Model 3 remains the top-selling electric car in France with a total of 8,083 new registrations.
If as usual Tesla will deliver a high number of cars in the last month of a quarter, it should strengthen in June.
Top five year-to-date:
- Tesla Model 3 - 8,083
- Peugeot 3008 PHEV - 7,527
- Renault ZOE - 7,448
- Peugeot e-208 - 7,233
- Renault Captur PHEV - 4,309
Detailed stats for models are provided by EV Sales Blog:

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