By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – Sales of electrified cars in France surpassed petrol-powered counterparts in the first quarter. This is a significant milestone in lower emission vehicles in a world where petrol prices are high and subsidies from the government for electrified models.

The French auto market is struggling to deal with issues such as a shortage of semiconductor chips and supply chain problems.

Based on industry data, the Plateforme automobile (PFA) reported that hybrid and fully electric models made up nearly 40% of new car sales.

PFA spokesperson said that due to the uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Ukraine as well as shortages of certain components it was impossible to predict French sales of new cars in 2022.

Pure combustion engines are still the most popular, even after adding 16.5% to diesel models’ sales in the quarter.

However, this represents a major shift in automobile sales. Electrified vehicles used to be a niche market three years back.

In a short time, electrified vehicles have been popularized thanks to subsidies and looming bans for fossil-fuel models.

In March, the top-selling electric vehicle in France was Tesla’s Model 3 mass-market model. The Dacia Spring followed closely. Renault Stellantis has the Peugeot (OTC) 208 and the Peugeot (PA:).

French vehicle sales fell 17.3% during the first quarter.

After the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, the French auto market plunged to a rock. But, things started to improve in 2021.