France led exports of vehicles for transporting 10 or more people worldwide in 2022, with shipments of $929 million.
After recording exports of these vehicles for $1.329 billion in 2019, this indicator dropped to $1.211 billion in 2020 and then rose slightly to $1.235 billion in 2021, according to data from the French government’s General Directorate of Customs.
Exports of vehicles
Where did the exports in question go? Mostly to Turkey ($339 million), Germany ($130 million), Poland ($102 million) and China ($28 million).
Other countries with outstanding exports of vehicles for the transport of 10 or more persons are Germany, Italy, the United States and Chile.
Going forward, the French government has set a goal of producing 2 million electric vehicles per year in France by 2030.
To achieve this goal, the government is investing massively in innovation and industrialization through France 2030. 1 billion euros have been earmarked specifically to support innovative projects in the automotive industry, for example for electric batteries.
To accelerate the conversion of the vehicle fleet towards electrification, the French government and industry want to democratize electric retrofitting. This technique consists of transforming a combustion vehicle into an electric one.
The aim is to enable owners of fuel-intensive cars to switch to electric vehicles. However, as this technology is still expensive today, the government intends to reduce the cost for private individuals.
The automotive industry must adapt its industrial apparatus to anticipate the end of sales of combustion-engine vehicles from 2035.
Automation
The final report of the high-level group on the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the automotive industry in the European Union (GEAR 2030) emphasizes, among other things, the medium- and long-term recommendations for automated and connected vehicles.
It refers, among other things, to the Amsterdam Declaration and highlights strategic planning and public-private partnerships as appropriate tools to get the most out of large-scale testing and research programs, both at EU and Member State level.
More specifically, the report calls for a new approach to vehicle type-approval and for the assessment of the long-term impact of increasingly automated and connected road transport, in particular on employment and ethical issues to ensure its social acceptability.