Automotive prospecting in France: which of 69,100 auto repair shops should you target?

Who do you prospect in the auto industry, and through which channel?#

Automotive prospecting covers four types of businesses and three ways to reach them. Since August 11, 2026, the CNIL (France's data protection authority) has distinguished between calls to individuals and calls to businesses; its rules also cover email.

The targets:

• shops outside carmaker networks, multi-brand or under a banner (a multi-brand service network);

• dealerships and shops in the carmaker networks;

• shops that install tires;

• auto parts distributors.

Shops that install tires form a separate market of 42,200 shops in France, as detailed in our article on the number of shops that install tires.

The channels:

• the phone, to book an appointment;

• email, to the shop's address or to its manager's address;

• in-person visits by a field sales representative.

Bloctel, France's do-not-call list for phone sales, ceased to exist on August 11, 2026: there is no longer a list to check before calling. An email addressed by name to a person must relate to their role. The rest of the method depends on one thing: knowing who to call.

A count of auto repair shops is not a prospect list#

The Scalon Observatory counts 69,062 auto repair shops in France in 2026 (September 3, 2026 edition, mainland France). These include about 56,400 shops outside carmaker networks and about 12,600 locations in the carmaker channel, meaning the carmaker networks. Outside carmaker networks, the study counts 36,483 MRA (multi-brand mechanics), of which 22,544 have no banner after verification.

These figures answer different questions. If you sell to shops outside the carmaker network, your market is about 56,400 addresses. If your offer targets the multi-brand shop that buys its parts without going through a network, it is 22,544.

Other figures circulate, and they do not match. The difference comes down to what is being counted.

The SIREN number (the French company ID) identifies the company, the SIRET number each of its places of business, called locations. A company that runs ten shops can count as one company in an economic statistic, and as ten addresses on a map. For a sales rep, each location matters: it represents a business you can call and visit.

For dealerships, the Observatory counts, in the same edition, 4,728 carmaker dealerships and 6,180 brand agents. That makes 10,908 locations in the August classification, against about 12,600 for the whole carmaker channel. A brand agent is a repair shop affiliated with a carmaker that lacks the sales organization of a dealership. The other locations in the carmaker channel mainly specialize in other work (bodywork, multi-brand mechanical repairs, or other specialties) or are brand agents found when we verified shops classified with no banner. For auto parts distributors, it does not publish a count to date.

The Sirene register (the business register kept by Insee, France's national statistics office) lists 20,012 active locations in France under the parts codes (45.31Z and 45.32Z) as of September 24, 2026, without identifying which are operating parts distributors.

What remains is the gap that costs the most time. A count tells you how many shops exist in your market. It helps you research the market, plan a budget, and determine the size of a team.

A prospect list tells you who to call tomorrow morning. It names each location, says whether it is still open, whether it can be reached, and whether it fits your target.

Going from one to the other by hand means sorting records one by one on an online map.

Which auto repair shops should you target for your offer?#

The multi-brand shop with no banner is the largest segment: 23,121 of the 56,262 shops classified one by one in the study. 4 in 10 list a cell phone number, and only 2 in 10 have a website in their own name.

After reviewing the 36,483 multi-brand mechanics individually, we found that 22,544 have neither a banner nor a brand, against 26,286 in the August classification: our study on independent auto repair shops details the verification.

This table covers the 56,262 shops whose records we classified individually in the Observatory's initial coverage. Its counts are therefore lower than those of the 69,062 total: 23,121 multi-brand shops with no banner here, against 26,286 in the August classification, and 4,628 carmaker-network shops, against about 12,600.

In practice, contact multi-brand shops with no banner by phone, often at numbers starting with 06 or 07. Contact shops under a banner and locations in carmaker networks through their main phone number or website; only 1 in 100 locations in carmaker networks lists a cell phone number.

The Observatory's MRA under a banner (10,197 in the August classification) work with a multi-brand network. The network may coordinate some of their purchasing, so a supplier can also contact its central organization, in addition to the individual shop.

Size matters too for anyone selling a lift, a diagnostic tool or shop software. Among 649 randomly sampled shops listed as active in the register, 34% have no reported employees, 23% have 1 or 2, 22% have 3 to 5, and 21% have 6 or more.

Why does a file built on code 45.20A miss nearly 3 in 10 shops?#

The 1,000 randomly drawn records include 929 shops; the other 71 are used-car dealers, car washes or unclassified cases. Of these shops, 649 are linked to a location listed as active in the Sirene register; we used those locations to identify the activity codes. 458 are registered under code 45.20A, the maintenance and repair of light vehicles: 7 in 10. The others are registered elsewhere: 99 under 45.11Z, the sale of cars (15%), including 73 shops outside carmaker networks and 26 from the carmaker networks; 61 under a parts code, 45.31Z or 45.32Z (9%); 31 under another code (5%).

In practice: a file filtered on 45.20A only misses nearly 3 real shops in 10.

Adding car sales (45.11Z) and the parts codes (45.31Z, 45.32Z) covers 618 of the 649 shops, more than 9 in 10. But these three codes cover 114,808 registrations in France, many of which are not auto repair shops. Start with identifiable shops that have a public listing and a repair facility, then look up their activity codes.

Conversely, in mainland France, the register counts 107,626 active locations under 45.20A, for 69,062 real shops. The code also picks up registrations that do not match a visible shop. In the register, in France, 47% of those registered under 45.20A are sole proprietorships, against 1 in 5 among the shops in our draw registered under this code.

On January 1, 2027, code 45.20A becomes 95.31G, under the new classification system: our article what changes for NAF codes in 2027 details the switch.

How do you reach a shop: landline, mobile, or email?#

The 56,262 shops classified one by one in the study all have a phone number on their record: the phone remains the reliable channel. 3 in 10 list a cell phone number starting with 06 or 07, equivalent to around 20,000 of the 69,062 shops when extrapolated to the full population.

The share listing a cell phone number varies by segment, as the table above shows.

Website availability varies just as much: 47% of shops have a website in their own name. Among multi-brand shops with no banner, 7 in 10 have no website at all, while the phone is always on the record.

Of the 929 randomly sampled shops, 404 have at least one email address in our data: more than 4 in 10, or around 30,000 shops. For the others, phone calls and in-person visits remain the only channels.

Calling a shop: the rule to check before the campaign#

In automotive prospecting, the phone is first used to book an appointment.

Since August 11, 2026, article L223-1 of the French Consumer Code has prohibited cold calling "a consumer who has not previously expressed their consent." On the same day, the Bloctel service "ceased to exist," according to Service-Public (the French government's public information site).

For calls to a business, the CNIL describes a different framework: the call "can be based on the legitimate interest of the organization when the purpose of the solicitation relates to the profession of the person contacted." You must inform the person, for example when collecting their number, and offer a "simple and free opt-out."

On each call, identify the company you represent and let the shop owner decline further sales contact "by a simple means." This requirement comes from the same CNIL page.

An example: offering a shop tool to the shop owner falls within this framework. Offering them personal insurance, much less so.

One point remains open. The passages of the CNIL pages we reviewed on November 6, 2026, do not explicitly address shop owners operating as sole proprietors. This case is not rare: among the 649 shops in our draw that are open in the register, 1 in 6 is a sole proprietorship.

The text that sets the scope is the French Consumer Code: that is what you should read, or have your lawyer read, before widening a campaign. Its preliminary article defines the consumer as an individual acting outside their commercial, craft or professional activity. These passages do not say how this criterion applies to cold-calling a sole-proprietor shop owner.

In practice, your list must record the source and date of each phone number. Without them, you cannot show that the shop owner was informed, nor answer a shop owner who asks where their number came from.

The full framework, with a call script, is in our guide to phone prospecting.

Emailing a shop: generic address or the manager's address?#

Email is often used to prepare the call or to confirm it. The rule changes with the address targeted.

A generic address, such as contact@, info@ or commande@, does not require the recipient's prior consent. An address that names an individual, such as the shop manager, is subject to two conditions:

• the message relates to the recipient's professional role;

• the person was informed, at the time their address was collected, that they could object to its commercial use free of charge.

In both cases, each message states on whose behalf it is sent. Each message also offers a way to unsubscribe.

These rules come from the CNIL's guidance on prospecting by email, dated June 10, 2026. Article L34-5 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code also requires every message to include valid contact information for requesting an end to the emails.

The 2026 page specifies that the exempt generic addresses are those "that concern legal entities" (a company). If the shop owner is a sole proprietor, have your lawyer review the case.

For a manufacturer of shop equipment, the difference is concrete. Emailing a shop manager about a car lift relates to their professional role. Writing to them about personal insurance does not.

What do shop addresses show? Among the 404 shops with an email address, nearly 3 in 4 use a consumer email service (Gmail, Orange, Wanadoo: 74%). More than 1 in 4 has a role-based address such as contact@ or accueil@ (26%), and 1 in 4 has an address in a person's name (26%), which is subject to the rules for addresses that name an individual. More than half have an address in the shop's name (55%), such as garage.dupont@ followed by a consumer email provider's domain. A shop can have several email addresses, so these percentages overlap.

A tip: an address using the shop's name and a consumer email service is not among the CNIL's examples of generic addresses. As a precaution, apply both requirements for addresses that name an individual.

These obligations fall on the sender of the message. A list that includes the shop manager's name and email address does not exempt you from these obligations. To write the message itself, our B2B cold email examples open on a verifiable fact, like the written reason in a good list.

Why check each shop's SIRET number?#

Because the number linked to a shop may be outdated. In our sample, 7% of shops linked to a SIRET number are associated only with locations listed as closed in the register, most of which closed before 2025, even though their online listings showed them as open when checked in July 2026. In practice: check the current SIRET number before writing or invoicing.

The register also changes: in 2025, it recorded 18,785 registrations and 12,937 closures under code 45.20A, which does not correspond exactly to the population of auto repair shops.

What a list of automotive prospects should say, line by line#

A useful list for a field sales rep or SDR needs only a few columns, each of which helps the rep make the call. Here is what it should carry for each location:

• identification: company name, address, phone, email, SIREN and SIRET numbers, manager, years in business, headcount, and publicly available revenue;

• a score and a verdict: a score out of 100, a yes or a no, and a written reason that explains the choice;

• business indicators: visible equipment, the posted list of services, an accreditation, and signs of recent activity;

• matching with your CRM (your customer relationship management tool), so you do not call back a customer who already has an account;

• the source and date of each piece of data.

The written reason changes the first conversation. Instead of opening the call with a question, the rep starts with a verifiable observation about the shop, equipment they have identified, or recent activity. The sale starts from a fact the shop owner recognizes.

Scalon handles the manual work of building this list for you.

The method has four steps. A thirty-minute scoping call, followed by data collection in each target area. Next, a human review of borderline cases, and delivery as a CSV, an XLSX or through an API.

Each row includes the business details, a score, a qualification decision, and a written explanation.

The Essentiel plan starts at €2,000 excl. VAT per year: one trade, one zone, a twelve-month license. A setup fee also applies in the first year. Before discussing pricing, you can assess the data with a free sample of 100 qualified locations that match your target market, with no obligation.

Scalon delivers the data, not the calls. You remain responsible for sending emails, running sales sequences, and conducting outreach, including the requirements to provide notice and allow opt-outs described above.

Frequently asked questions#

Is it legal to call a shop without its consent?#

For business calls, the CNIL allows reliance on legitimate interest if the purpose relates to the recipient's professional activity. The shop owner must be informed and given an easy, free way to opt out. For a sole-proprietor shop owner, have your lawyer review the case.

Do you still need to check Bloctel before calling shops?#

No. According to Service-Public, Bloctel ceased to exist on August 11, 2026. There is no longer a list to check before calling. Do keep the source of each number and honor every refusal.

What hours can you call a shop?#

The calling hours in decree 2022-1313, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., apply to consumers, according to the DGCCRF (France's consumer protection agency). The decree therefore sets no calling hours for a shop: choose a time when the workshop picks up.

Which NAF code should you use to find auto repair shops?#

Code 45.20A, the maintenance and repair of light vehicles, is the most common. But nearly 3 shops in 10 are registered under another code. On January 1, 2027, 45.20A becomes 95.31G.

Can you buy a list of shops?#

Yes, for business-to-business prospecting. According to the CNIL, when numbers are "acquired from third parties," you must ensure that the person was informed that their number could be used for sales prospecting and can opt out. Ask where each record came from and when the data was collected.

What other sources say#

Method#

The shop figures come from the Scalon Observatory (69,062 shops, September 3, 2026 edition). Phone numbers and website data come from the 56,262 shops classified individually in the study, whose records were collected through July 2026. Email addresses, activity codes, and legal forms come from a random sample of 1,000 study records representing 929 shops, reviewed in our data on November 6, 2026, and matched against the Sirene register as of September 24, 2026. Figures for activity codes and changes in the register come from the September 24, 2026 Sirene data snapshot.

Cite this study#

Sources#

• Article L223-1 du Code de la consommation, Légifrance (Légifrance is the French government's official legal database)
• Démarchage téléphonique interdit : quelles sont les nouvelles règles ?, Service Public
• Prospection commerciale par téléphone (hors automate d'appel) : quelles sont les règles ?, CNIL
• La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique, SMS, MMS et automate d'appel, CNIL (10 juin 2026)
• Article L34-5 du Code des postes et des communications électroniques, Légifrance
• FAQ sur l'encadrement des jours, horaires et fréquence du démarchage téléphonique, DGCCRF
• Article liminaire du Code de la consommation, Légifrance
• Observatory of auto repair shops in France, Scalon
• Insee's Sirene register, snapshot as of September 24, 2026