The private parking market - France (2025)

1.2 A global parking market dominated by the United States

The global parking management market is expanding rapidly, supported by technological advances and the growing adoption of intelligent mobility solutions. In ****, it is estimated at *.** billion USD and is expected to reach *.** billion USD by ****, registering a compound annual growth rate (***) of *.**% over the forecast period. This growth is driven by rapid urbanization and the continuing increase in the vehicle fleet, resulting in greater demand for efficient, connected solutions.

Sales growth projections for the global parking management market World, **** - ****, in $ billions Source: ****

For example, in North America, where urbanization is expected to exceed **% by ****, parking management systems are becoming essential to the fluidity of urban transport networks. At the same time, technological advances such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, image recognition and cloud platforms are transforming the sector, offering solutions that are more accurate, faster and accessible via mobile applications. These innovations considerably reduce the time it takes to find a parking space, and consequently limit fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as part of global initiatives for sustainable mobility and smart cities.

Finally, parking management is becoming a key component of intelligent transport infrastructures, helping to optimize urban spaces while meeting the needs of growing populations increasingly concentrated in ...

1.3 A growing French market

According to the Fédération Nationale du Marché du Stationnement (***), in *,*** parking lots.

Types of parking spaces in France France, ****, in % of total Source: ****

The industry generates sales of *.* billion euros and employs *,*** people[***]. The French parking lot management market is highly concentrated, dominated by Indigo, Effia and Q-Park.

Market share of different groups by number of car parks France, ****, in Source: ****

This concentration is partly due to municipal tenders, which call for a wide range of services, including preliminary studies, engineering and construction, as well as operation and maintenance. These requirements favor the major players in the market, capable of making the necessary investments and integrating the entire value chain. In addition, these leaders have adopted external growth strategies, as demonstrated by Indigo' s acquisition of Covivio and Transdev 's parking facilities and activities in June ****.

Market share of on-street parking spaces France, ****, in Source: ****

The sector, benefiting from infrastructures that have already been partially amortized, has a largely positive net income ratio. This enables it to invest in park modernization, including initiatives such as LED lighting and automation, despite rising interest rates in **** and ****.

In November ****, Troopy, an operator of free-floating electric scooters, chose Saemes, whose majority shareholder ...

2.1 Rising motorization of French households

Despite a sharp drop in new vehicle sales in recent years, the household car ownership rate has remained relatively stable, reaching **% in ****.

Share of motorized households France, ****-****, in Source: ****

Over the long term, there has even been a slight increase in this rate, which was closer to **% in the early ****s.

Disparities according to household characteristics

While the rate of motorized households has risen overall, there are nevertheless disparities between equipment rates according to the age of the head of household or area of residence. Household motorization rates are much higher in suburban and rural areas (***).

Motorization by place of residence France, ****-****, in Source: ****

We could go into even more detail and focus on Paris and the Ile-de-France region: the car ownership rate drops from **.*% to **.*% from the outer suburbs to the inner suburbs, and ends at **.*% in Paris itself:

Car ownership rate France, ****, in Source: ****

Similarly, households made up of the elderly (***) are less motorized than other age categories. However, there has been a sharp rise in the rate of motorization among these age groups. Indeed, the motorization rate for the under-**s has risen from **.*% in **** to **% in ****, and for the over-**s from **.*% to **.*%.

Motorization by ...

2.2 Passenger car fleet in France

A car spends more than **% of its life in a car park, and the evolution of the French car fleet is therefore naturally the primary determinant of parking demand[***]. The size of the French car fleet has generally been on the rise since the beginning of the century, driving the need for, and therefore the demand for, parking. However, growth in the size of the fleet is tending to slow down. Indeed, the fleet expanded by *.*% between **** and ****, but only by *.*% between **** and ****, rising from **.*** million vehicles in **** to **.* million in ****.

Evolution of the French car fleet France, ****-****, in millions of vehicles Source: ****

The graph above lists all types of vehicle (***). For the purposes of this study, it is more interesting to focus on personal vehicles, whose fleet size is shown in the following graph.

change in fleet size for private vehicles France, **** - ****, in millions of vehicles Source: ****

The size of the French personal vehicle fleet is also on the rise, amounting to **.* million personal vehicles in ****.

2.3 The low popularity of parking lots

Generally speaking, city dwellers are not satisfied with the parking facilities on offer. Indeed, according to an Odoxa survey conducted for France Bleu in ****, parking spaces were among the measures taken by municipalities with which urbanites were least satisfied, with only **% of respondents declaring themselves satisfied.

Urbanites' level of satisfaction with the following measures France, ****, in Source: ****

The satisfaction rate even drops to **% among residents of major cities. What's more, according to a Harris Interactive survey conducted in March ****, **% of urbanites surveyed felt that there were not enough parking spaces for cars in their city.

For **% of French people, parking is becoming increasingly expensive, especially in Paris where this result reaches **%, according to a YouGov survey relayed by Seton in ****. Parking lots are indeed considered too expensive, as confirmed by a study conducted by Harris Interactive in August **** on airport parking lots. According to this study, the word "expensive" is by far the first word cited by the French when asked what they think of airport parking lots.

Generally speaking, would you say that airport parking lots are very expensive, rather expensive, rather not expensive, not at all expensive? France, ****, in % Source: ****

Indeed, **% of respondents to this survey consider the prices ...

2.4 New rules for parking motorized two-wheelers in Paris

Since the introduction of paid parking for thermal motorized two-wheelers in Paris and the Île-de-France region on *ᵉʳ September ****, a majority of drivers are considering changing their travel habits. According to an OpinionWay survey for mobility app Freenow, **% of drivers affected by the measure are considering changing their mode of transport, and **% even want to switch to carbon-neutral modes.

Paris is the first major city in France to introduce a payment system for parking thermal scooters and motorcycles. The capital has some **,*** parking spaces dedicated to these motorized two-wheelers. The table below shows the rates applied:

Source: ****

Scooter and motorcycle users are considering several alternatives in response to this new measure. They plan to use their scooters less, giving priority to public transport (***).

What alternatives do you prefer to scooter use? France, ****, in Source: ****

One in five respondents said they would use their private car more in response to this new pricing system. This could contribute to existing traffic problems in the city, and would have undesirable environmental consequences.

2.5 French car dependency

Good news for parking lots, the French are completely dependent on their vehicles: According to a **** IFOP study:

French car dependency France, ****, in Source: ****

This means that **% of French people are totally dependent on their car when visiting relatives.

What's more, despite the fact that the French are well aware of vehicle-related climate issues, **% of them intend to keep their car:

In ****, do you think? France, ****, in Source: ****

The French intend to keep their cars, which is good news for parking lots. What's more, **% of them don't want to put off buying a new vehicle.

3.1 The French parking market and the concession model

As already mentioned, there are different types of parking lots (***). Thus, the parking market encompasses only regulated on-street and off-street parking, characterized by the payment of a fee and a limited parking time. For example, the parking market does not include garages and private parking spaces[***].

Here, the private parking market corresponds to off-street parking, in a dedicated space (***). This does not include on-street pay parking, which is controlled exclusively by local authorities[***].

Distribution of parking spaces in France:

Parking spaces can fall into several different categories:

free off-street ; free on-street ; paid off-street ; pay on-street.

As mentioned in *.*, France currently has*,***,*** parking spacesincluding ***,*** on-street spaces (***), distributed between*,*** parking lots.

The predominance of the concession model

In addition to the distinction between free and paid parking, and off-street and on-street parking, we also need to consider the parking space ownership model. In fact, most parking spaces are publicly owned (***).

Parking by type of ownership France, ****, in % of total Source: ****

The French parking system is thus dominated by theconcession modelunder which the public authorities that own the parking spaces hand over their management to private companies.Concessions account for **% of all parking spaces. [***]

Parking by model type France, ****, in % of total Source: ****

Concessions ...

3.2 Indigo, leader on the verge of being dethroned?

Among the private players specializing in parking, the main companies are Indigo, QPark, Effia, Interparking and APCOA. While APCOA dominates the European market, Indigo is the French market leader, with a **.**% market share of French car parks (***).formed in **** from the merger of Sogeparc and Parcs GTM, and originally named Vinci Park, Indigo currently owns *** car parks in France, with ***,*** spaces, in *** towns and cities. The group employs *,*** people in France[***].

Indigo is a world leader in the parking and personal mobility sector. It is present in * countries and over *** cities worldwide.

Source: ****

Already a market leader by a wide margin, Indigo continues to expand its presence with the acquisition of Spie Batignolles' parking division in ****. This buyout added around thirty new parking lots to Indigo's already extensive portfolio[***]. Indigo also acquired the parking facilities and activities of Covivio and Transdev in June **** (***).

The parking lot market in France is marked by consolidation and strategic transformations. Q-Park's recent acquisition of SAGS illustrates this trend, propelling the Dutch company into second place in the French parking market, ahead of Keolis subsidiary Effia. Thanks to this operation, Q-Park has considerably strengthened its portfolio, reaching *** sites in operation in around a hundred cities, with ...

3.3 Focus on medium-sized players

Although operators such as Indigo and Q-Park largely dominate the sector, there are also many local players, which we present in this section. The following table lists a number of smaller operators operating on a more local scale in France.

Source: ****

Many of these parking lots, although fee-paying, are not entirely private. In fact, some of them are owned in part or in majority by the cities in which the players operate. For example, the city of Paris owns **.**% of the operator Saemes[***].

4.1 The different types of parking lot

As mentioned above, there are several types of parking lot, depending on whether they are multi-storey or not. To give you a more detailed idea, we can distinguish between the following types of parking lot[***] :

Surface parking lots

Above-ground parking lots are parking facilities on the ground level, usually delimited by an enclosure, barriers, etc. This type of parking lot can be off-street or on-street. The main advantage of this type of parking lot is ease of access, as well as safety (***). Nevertheless, it requires a substantial investment in terms of land purchase costs, and encourages urban sprawl.

Underground parking lots

Underground parking lots are located beneath buildings, in the city or on the outskirts (***). They are often multi-storey, enabling considerable savings on land investment. Nevertheless, construction costs are often much higher, and underground parking lots are subject to a large number of regulatory requirements.

Multi-storey parking lots

Above-ground multi-storey parking lots are very similar to underground parking lots, the fundamental difference being that the levels do not sink below ground level, which saves on heavy excavation work and costs.

4.2 Activity costs and pricing

According to Turner & Townsend, the cost of building a parking lot in Paris in **** was €*,***/m* for underground parking lots and €***/m* for surface parking lots. Prices rose by *.*% between **** and ****.

Construction costs for parking lots in Paris France, ****-****, in €/m* Source: ****

The price of a new parking lot in **** in France varies according to region and location. For example, prices start at €**,*** in Tours and Créteil, €**,*** in Bordeaux, €**,*** in Antibes, and reach €**,*** in Nice, and up to €**,*** for basement parking in popular areas such as Gare du Sud. in Strasbourg, a single-storey parking lot costs from €**,***, while in Toulouse, parking lots in the city center start at €**,***. In the Île-de-France region, localities such as Bagneux offer new parking lots from €**,***, while in Paris **e and Issy-les-Moulineaux, prices rise to €**,*** and €**,*** respectively .

Several criteria influence these price variations. The city plays a central role: in large metropolises where demand is high, prices rise significantly. Precise location, such as proximity to public transport or location in busy districts, also affects cost. The size and type of space, whether spacious, covered, overhead or enclosed in a box, influence its value. Finally, factors such as accessibility, security enhanced by video-protection or guarding ...

4.3 The gradual disappearance of on-street parking in favor of multi-storey car parks

As a result of the interaction of many factors, including urban planning concerns and measures to limit cars in city centers, on-street parking spaces are becoming increasingly scarce in France. In ****, **% of cities reported having removed a significant number of on-street spaces over the past five years.

The city of Paris is planning to eliminate half of its ***,*** surface parking spaces by ****, raising questions at a time of economic and health crisis. Currently, these parking spaces generate an annual income of *** million euros for the municipality. At the same time, it is a cause for concern for local businesses, which expect to lose footfall if parking spaces disappear in their area. However, a study by the Centre d'Etudes et d'Expertise sur les Risques, l'Environnement, la Mobilité et l'Aménagement (***) reveals that only **% of the population of large urban areas use their car to get to the shops in the city center.the pedestrianization of the Place des Héros in Arras and the Grand-Place in Lille has led to an increase in footfall on shopping streets, indicating that the elimination of parking and the pedestrianization of public spaces can coexist with flourishing economic activity. This suggests that reducing parking spaces is ...

4.4 Parking in cities: towards connected, multi-modal spaces

The axes of intermodality:

in France today, **% of home-work journeys are monomodal. There is therefore a real opportunity for better fragmentation of the journey, which is a key issue in the energy transition. Here are just some of the areas under study in the parking sector:

car-sharing; parking facilities for two-wheelers (***) ; charging stations for electric cars.

Parking lot operators are still a minor player in the installation of electric car recharging systems in France. Indeed, local authorities are responsible for almost all the installation of charging stations in France. Parking lot operators offer just *** charging stations nationwide, even though they have vast amounts of space at their disposal.

Number of charging stations per developer France, ****, in number of charging stations Source: ****

The parking lot: towards a space for connected services?

According to several studies, the search for a parking space is responsible for more than **% of urban traffic. These same studies reveal that even when **% of parking spaces are available in a city, motorists have difficulty locating them and therefore spend a lot of time looking for them. physicists at the CNRS have used the laws of statistical physics and graph theory to model the traffic problem around Lyon's **,*** public parking ...

4.5 Parking payments by plate reader

One of the major new trends in the parking lot sector is the introduction of payment by license plate reader, an innovation designed to enhance the user experience while simplifying infrastructure management. Developed by fintech Lyf in partnership with the semi-public company Parcus.mobi, this system automates the payment process by identifying vehicles entering and leaving parking lots. Users enter their bank details and license plate number via the Lyf Pay application. As soon as they enter the parking lot, the parking time is calculated and billed automatically, with payment debited directly from their bank account. This solution offers a frictionless experience, eliminating the need for paper tickets or traditional pay stations, while reducing queues.

The system has been designed to comply with the requirements of the European PSD* directive, notably by incorporating strong authentication as soon as the user registers with the application. Following a test phase between February and August **** in several Strasbourg parking lots, this innovation is now being deployed in the ** parking lots managed by Parcus.mobi, which welcome four million visitors every year. Lyf has also begun marketing the technology to other car park managers. This innovation represents a key step in the digitization of parking ...

4.6 Towards differentiated parking rates in Paris: the case of SUVs

in Paris, urban mobility and the management of public space are the subject of a new debate with the proposal to introduce a specific fee for parking SUVs, these vehicles often criticized for their size, weight and environmental impact. Paris City Hall, under the impetus of Anne Hidalgo, has decided to put this measure to a municipal vote on February *, ****, arousing keen media and political interest.

According to an OpinionWay poll conducted in early January ****, **% of Parisians said they were in favor of the measure, formulated as a tax on "heavy, cumbersome and polluting cars". This support is partly explained by the perception of SUVs as vehicles unsuited to the urban environment: three quarters of those polled consider them unnecessary for driving in Paris, and even **% of SUV owners share this opinion. Opponents, meanwhile, denounce the policy as discriminatory and stigmatizing, highlighting an underlying social divide. Indeed, higher socio-professional categories (***) take a more critical stance towards these vehicles than CSP-, who value their advantages in terms of comfort and safety. These divergences reflect a clash between ecological issues and social perceptions of modes of transport.

SUVs, which account for just **% of vehicles owned by Parisian households, are nevertheless the focus of ...

5.1 Parking space regulations

Dimensions:

Parking spaces are subject to dimensional regulations concerning pavement markings, depending on the type of storage:

Source: ****

These dimensions are governed by standard NF P**-***.

Disabled and PRM parking spaces:

Since ****, it has been mandatory to have at least *% of the number of spaces adapted for PRM. The spaces must be close to the building entrance (***).

They must also be signposted, with paint on the ground and a sign in front of the space. The minimum width must be *.** m wide and * m long. Finally, the slope must be less than *%[***].

5.2 Car park construction standards

Construction standards for parking lots vary according to a number of factors:

Type: public or private Construction method and land: underground, surface, overhead, etc. Capacity: number of spaces Traffic flow within the parking lot: one-way or two-way Etc...

Based on these criteria, the main elements concerned by the regulations are as follows:

Spacedimensions (***) Trafficlanes Pedestrian walkways Signage Fire-fighting standards Storm water drainage

For details of standards in each category, visit https://normalisation.afnor.org/thematiques/parcs-de-stationnement/.

5.3 Recent regulations

Article L. ***-**-* of the French Urban Planning Code (***):

In force since July *, ****

Outdoor parking lots over *** m² must incorporate : Permeable or vegetated pavements to allow rainwater infiltration and prevent accumulation. Shade or vegetation over at least half of their surface area, unless technical or economic constraints justify an exemption. If shaded areas are installed, they must incorporate photovoltaic panels over their entire surface area to produce renewable energy.

Article L. ***-* of the French Construction and Housing Code:

Applicable to renovations and extensions over *** m².

Obligations to install vegetation or solar panels also apply to major renovations (***). Buildings for commercial or administrative use, and their parking lots, must comply with standards to reduce environmental impact, including renewable energy or water management solutions.

Article ** of the APER law of March **, ****:

For large outdoor parking lots (***)

Obligation to install photovoltaic shades covering at least **% of the surface area for parking lots. Derogations are possible for : Technical or safety constraints related to the terrain or environment. Park already shaded by trees covering **% of its surface area. Development or conversion projects scheduled before ****.

Article R. ***-**-* to R. ***-**-** of the Code de l'Urbanisme (***):

Definition of major renovations : Any replacement of ...

6. Segmentation

6.2 The analyst's eye

Context:

The French market for private parking lots is undergoing major changes, both in terms of public policy and socio-economic transformations. In France, there are currently *,***,*** parking spaces, divided between **.*% on-street and **.*% off-street, for sales of *.* billion euros in ****. Urban densification, combined with a reduction in on-street parking spaces in major cities such as Paris, which plans to eliminate **% of its spaces by ****, is contributing to an increase in demand for on-street infrastructure. Environmental policies add another layer of complexity. For example, since ****, the Climate and Resilience Act has imposed measures such as revegetation or the installation of photovoltaic panels for outdoor parking lots larger than *** m².

Major trends:

*st trend: The market is highly concentrated: By ****, the top three players in France will hold over **% of the sector's market share.

*nd trend: Parking space rental prices vary enormously by city. According to Zenpark's **** barometer, the average rate for a month's subscription in Paris is €***, while in Rennes it's €**, yet both cities are among the top ** most expensive cities for parking space rental in France.

*rd trend: One of the major trends in parking lots is payment by license plate reading, automating billing via applications such as Lyf ...

• Effia (Keolis Groupe)
• Q-Park
• Indigo Parking Group
• Interparking France
• APCOA Parking France
• Edeis
• Ector Parking
• Parclick
• SAEMES
• Transdev Stationnement - Urbis Park (Trandev Groupe)
• Zenpark
• Keolis
• Metpark
• Interparking
• Flowbird Parkeon
• Linkview
• Camping-car Park
• EasyPark
• Camping-Car park