The troubled French government finally collapsed this week following a historic no-confidence vote that saw Prime Minister Michel Barnier ousted when the Brexit negotiator controversially used special powers to force through his proposed budget without a vote. The general unrest there took its toll on the French car market in general, which saw a 12.7% sales drop compared to last year. It’s not all bad news for French car fans, though – the hybrid and PHEV segments showed strong growth in November, up 34%. Battery-electric vehicles reached a major milestone, hitting 15% of overall sales … with the Renault 5 E-Tech the clear winner in that sales race. Yes, the Renault 5 is getting a bit of a boost from being the hot new kid on the block (this is its first full month of sales, after all), but the numbers are impressive, nonetheless: Renault sold a total of 3,316 of its R5 E-Tech hot hatch EVs last month, indicating that the new 5 is off to an excellent start in its home market. For comparison, the Tesla Model Y – the best-selling car in the world – delivered “just” 3,175 units amid big incentives, while the Citroen Citroën ë-C3 came in third with 1,239 new registrations. The Renault 5 finished 7th of all new vehicles. Electrek’s Take