French President Emmanuel Macron is attending the Paris Motor Show for the final time as head of state. The visit highlights France's electric vehicle production progress, a pre-show Élysée dinner with industry stakeholders, and France's push for stronger EU-wide automotive preferences — while negotiations with Germany over related policy targets remain ongoing.
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Macron's attendance at the Paris Motor Show is drawing to a close. On Monday, the president is scheduled to attend the Paris gathering — a biennial event at which he has been a consistent presence — in what will mark his concluding appearance there in an official capacity.
The visit presents an opportunity to assess his record in the automotive sector, where he expressed enthusiasm for cars in 2023. French automotive manufacturing, which sustains around 400,000 jobs across the country, sits at the core of the national industrial base, according to statements from the presidential palace.
Among the industrial priorities highlighted by the administration, accelerating electric vehicle output and building a domestic battery sector have drawn particular attention. Up until 2017, France's battery-powered vehicle output remained narrow in scope, with the Renault Zoé carrying the weight of domestic production largely on its own. A source close to the Élysée noted that when Macron took office, the country lacked any domestic battery manufacturing capacity.
Production volumes climbed after that point, yet the gap between what is made domestically and what the market requires has remained open. Data from France's national statistics body showed that electric passenger car registrations across the country reached 331,000 units in 2025, outpacing the 216,000 such vehicles that rolled off production lines at French manufacturing plants.
Of the electric vehicles produced at French plants, roughly six in ten are exported — with the United Kingdom and various other European markets drawing the largest share. Domestic production accounts for just one in four of the new electric vehicles purchased by French buyers. Imported vehicles account for a substantial portion of the supply reaching the French market, given the limited domestic production available to carmakers.
The government has set a target of two million electric vehicles produced annually by 2030, and current output in France falls noticeably short of that benchmark. Presidential offices pointed to advances in vehicle electrification and the establishment of four battery manufacturing plants in the country's northern regions as evidence of forward momentum.
The Élysée is set to host a dinner for automotive industry representatives on Sunday evening, the presidency has confirmed, with that gathering scheduled to take place ahead of the head of state's visit to the show — an arrangement that has become customary at each edition of the event. A gathering of roughly 60 participants is anticipated, drawn from the automotive supply chain, including carmakers, equipment suppliers, battery producers, and rare-earth specialists, both domestic and from across Europe.
According to a statement from the presidency, neither brand executives nor Chinese exhibitors are expected to be present at the dinner. Among the exhibitors taking part in the event, manufacturers based in China are expected to make up a considerable portion of the floor.
On the day that follows, Macron has visits to the stands of Stellantis, Renault, and equipment supplier Valeo scheduled as he moves through the Motor Show. A roundtable on autonomous cars is scheduled as the concluding item of the visit.
Vehicle manufacturing capacity across the two regions sits at markedly different scales — China's plants can turn out around 55 million units a year, while European facilities account for roughly 12 million — a disparity that forms part of the industrial backdrop to France's lobbying for EU-wide support of its automotive sector. France has taken the position that public subsidies across the 27-nation bloc should direct a greater share of support toward electric vehicles assembled within those member states.
Proponents are pushing for a purchasing framework that would give European-made products priority at every stage of production, spanning components such as batteries through to replacement parts. France has indicated a willingness to accept Chinese investment in Europe where it meets certain quality standards, including the transfer of technology, while drawing a line at arrangements in which European facilities serve merely as the final assembly point for goods whose components are produced entirely elsewhere.
An Élysée official acknowledged that aligning the French position with that of Germany presents a recognised challenge, given that the two countries operate under markedly different industrial models — a gap illustrated by Germany's considerably higher vehicle export volumes, which leave the two nations with trade interests that do not fully converge. German manufacturers face a tension in trade policy: the depth of their commercial ties to China means that European measures restricting Beijing's market access — whether through procurement rules or environmental requirements — carry a prospect of drawing retaliatory action against those same companies.
Reports from Wednesday indicated that France and Germany had arrived at a deal under which Paris would accept a loosened European target for reducing CO2 output from new cars by 2035 — dropping the threshold from the 90% cut put forward by the European Commission to a revised figure of 80%, measured against 2021 levels. As part of the arrangement, Berlin indicated it would lend its support to tighter regulations governing the "Made in Europe" designation.
Ahead of the Motor Show, the Élysée stated that no agreement had been reached, while also confirming that discussions on European preference were ongoing. The Paris Motor Show at Porte de Versailles, scheduled to open its doors to visitors from 13 to 18 October, carries more than a century of history and ranks among the most attended automotive gatherings on the calendar, with the president counted among those who passed through on the preceding media day.