Content of the study:
The driving school market - France

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MARKET OVERVIEW

1.1 Market overview and definition

Driving schools are specialized establishments whose mission is to train candidates to drive motorized vehicles in order to obtain their driving license. In addition to the basic training required to obtain a driving license, they can also offer a range of complementary activities such as pre- and post-licensing courses, road safety awareness training and vocational training.

The driving school sector features a variety of learning models, including traditional, hybrid and online driving schools. By 2022, there will be around 50 million people with a driving license in France, making it the country's biggest driving test by volume.

There are three types of driving school: traditional, hybrid and online.

The driving school clientele can be divided into four categories: young people under 25, people over 25, schoolchildren with an interest in road safety, and driving license holders wishing to improve their skills.although young people are less and less inclined to take the driving test due to urbanization and environmental concerns, they still consider it essential, especially for employment.

This market is suffering from growing competition from alternative modes of transport:

  • Car-sharing and car-pooling
  • Public transport
  • Transport rental
  • Increasing use of bicycles

But this market also faces competition from the no-license car market, which has been growing rapidly in recent years.

In 2015, the Macron law paved the way for online driving schools by simplifying approval procedures and doing away with certain prerequisites. Ornikar, which appeared in 2013, was a pioneer in this field. These online driving schools, such as Ornikar and PermisLibre, offer flexible, competitively priced training, while connecting students with independent instructors. However, they face challenges such as sometimes lower pass rates, longer waiting times and concerns about fraudulent practices. This new competition has led to tensions with traditional driving schools, who denounce it as unfair competition.

The driving school market in France is undergoing major changes, thanks in particular to government initiatives to modernize, the adoption of technologies to facilitate examinations, the emergence of innovative private players and merger and acquisition movements, reflecting a significant transformation of the driver training industry.

The driving test consists of two parts:

  • Theoretical : 40-question Highway Code test
  • Practical: driving time to assess respect for the Highway Code and other road users

In addition, there are three types of driving license offered by driving schools, whose shares have remained stable over the years:

  • Car: 84% of graduates
  • Motorcycle: 10% of graduates
  • Heavy goods vehicles: 6% of graduates

(2022)

1.2 European market

For the most part,driving schools remain confined to the national level. Only the Ornikar online platform seems to have any pretensions to international expansion. In June ****, the company raised €** million with the main objectives of diversifying (***) and expanding in Europe. In ****, a new fundraising round of around *** million euros enabled ...

1.3 A highly regulated French market facing competition from new players

According toINSEE, sales of the driving school market amounted to *.*** billion euros in ****, and the number of registrants was *.*** million. In ****, there were *.*** million new registrations, so we can estimate sales of the French driving school market at *.** billion euros

The evolution of the driving school market can also be analyzed ...

DEMAND ANALYSIS

2.1 The slowdown in demand

In ****, *.*** million candidates took the general theory test (***), representing an **% drop in theory tests and a *.*% increase in driving tests compared with ****. The breakdown of licences issued is summarized in the chart below: Categories of driving licenses issued France, ****, in [***] Other : A-A*-A* : **.**% BE : *,**% C-C*: *.** CE-C*E: *.** D-D*-D*: *.**% In addition, ...

2.2 Demand driven by young people?

Driving school customers can be broken down into * types of profile

Young people under ** who want to take their driving test for the first time People over ** who want to take their driving test, who make up the minority of driving school customers Schoolchildren attending road safety awareness campaigns Holders of ...

2.3 The growing success of alternative modes of transport

In ****, according to the Observatoire des Mobilités Emergentes (***) produced by ObSoCo in collaboration with SNCF, French people's mobility habits have changed significantly since the start of the Covid-** pandemic. While the private car initially benefited from the health crisis to the detriment of public transport, a clear downward trend in ...

2.4 No-licence cars: growing competition to licences

Growth in the number of new license-free car registrations France, **** - ****, in thousands Source: ****

After a **% drop in new car sales between **** and ****, the number of mini-car registrations remained constant from **** to ****. However, a sharp increase was observed from **** onwards. New licence-free car registrations rose by **% in **** compared with ****. In ****, growth ...

MARKET STRUCTURE

3.1 A highly competitive market

The driving school market is therefore highly competitive, as it has historically been made up of numerous local players with one or more establishments. Some of these schools have chosen to organize themselves into networks to pool some of their expenses.

The national ECF and CER groups alone represent around a ...

3.2 Geographical distribution of driving schools

The number of driving schools is relatively correlated with population density.

The map below shows the geographical distribution of driving schools in France.

Source: ****

More generally, the populations of driving schools by region and the shares to which they correspond are summarized below:

There are also geographical disparities in the pass ...

3.3 The "uberization" of the driving school market

In ****, the Macron law authorized distance learning contracts and simplified prefectoral approval procedures, removing the obligation for driving schools to obtain the approval of the Comission départementale de la sécurité routière. [***] This reform has led to the emergence of new nationwide players with no premises of their own: ...

3.4 Market trends

The driving school market in France is currently marked by several major trends. On the one hand, the French government has launched initiatives aimed at modernizing the driver training sector. These include the signing of a charter in partnership with BPI France and the CNPA as part of the France Relance ...

OFFER ANALYSIS

4.1 Types of driving schools and driving licences

The table below describes the range offered by each type of driving school.

Source: ****

While learning formats may differ, driving schools offer two types of training: theoretical, to prepare for the Highway Code exam, and practical, to prepare for the driving test.

Driving schools also sometimes offer additional services, such as ...

4.2 Driving school fees

Driving school fees are on the rise in France: they've been rising steadily for the past ** years. However, they have accelerated over the past * years, mainly due to inflation.

Price trends for driving school services France, ****-****, in INSEE

Driving license (***)

In France, the average price is **** euros to take your ...

REGULATIONS

5. 1 Driving school obligations

To become a driving school operator, you must : be ** years old provide proof of the establishment's resources (***) have a CQP RUESRC (***) or a level III diploma employ a driving school teacher with specific training obtain prefectoral approval, valid for * years and renewable * years before expiry Each establishment must also have insurance ...

5.2 Recent reforms

**** European reform

In ****, the countries of the European Union launched measures with three objectives in mind: to combat fraudulent practices, guarantee freedom of movement and improve road safety.

To meet these objectives, several elements were harmonized: the format of driving licenses (***) and the frequency of medical examinations.

These changes came into ...

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Reviews (2)

Reviews (2)

The driving school market - France

Publicado en 17/08/2022 by Marie-Anne BOURDIAUX - ECOLE DE CONDUITE ACCELEREE

Study carried out by professionals which allowed me to deepen my knowledge of the market. Too bad that it was already 2 years old, the market being in constant evolution, I would have liked updated figures

The driving school market - France

Publicado en 12/01/2022 by Simon Toffaletti

Currently developing an entrepreneurial project around the driving school sector, this complete, synthetic and financially accessible study accelerates my steps.


Businesscoot Response:

Hello Simon, Thank you for your feedback on our study, we are very happy to contribute to the success of your project. We are also very pleased to see that you liked our service and our pricing. :)

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