Number of independent auto repair shops in France: 38,600 in 2026
Just over one in two auto repair shops in France has no chain, franchise, network name, group or manufacturer affiliation. For anyone selling to auto repair shops: how many there are, who oversees the affiliated shops, how large these accounts are and where to find them.
Mainland France has about 38,600 independent auto repair shops with no chain, franchise, network, buying group or manufacturer brand: about 37,000 of the 69,062 shops recorded on our repair shops page and 1,600 missing from the survey (Scalon Observatory, November 2026). The other 32,100 recorded shops belong to a network (19,500) or to the manufacturer channel (12,600).
Get the list of the 38,600 independent repair shops outside chains, with the contact details available.
Get the full listPublished on October 14, 2026 · Updated on November 9, 2026 · October 2026 estimate checked against 1,350 shops; Sirene register dated September 24, 2026; financial statements and data links reviewed on November 9, 2026
In this article
- Which independent auto repair shop count do you need?
- For your sales prospecting plan
- Levels 1 and 2. From automotive businesses to repair shops and sales channels
- Level 3. Structure: unaffiliated or network-affiliated
- Level 4. Independent auto repair shops by specialty
- Level 5. The networks behind affiliated shops
- Level 6. Where are the independent auto repair shops?
- How big an account is an independent shop?
- How do you reach independent auto repair shops?
- How do you build a prospect list of independent auto repair shops?
- Why do published figures vary so much?
- Which activity code applies to an independent auto repair shop?
- Frequently asked questions
Which independent auto repair shop count do you need?#
The word "independent" has two meanings. In terms of the sales channel, a shop is independent if it is neither a dealership nor a manufacturer-authorized agent: that applies to about 56,400 of the 69,062 recorded shops (about 58,100 with the 1,600 missing from the survey), even though many display a network's sign. For anyone selling to repair shops, an independent shop has no network name, network, group, franchise or manufacturer affiliation: it chooses its own suppliers. That figure, 38,600, is the focus of this page. It includes the partner shops of the online booking platforms Avatacar and idGarages unless they display another network's name: a platform is not a network.
| Your question | Answer | What is counted |
|---|---|---|
| How many auto repair shops are in mainland France? | 69,062 recorded | Shops recorded on our repair shops page, plus about 1,600 independent shops missing from the survey |
| How many shops are outside the manufacturer channel? | 56,400 | Of the 69,062 recorded (about 58,100 with the 1,600 missing from the survey): outside the manufacturer channel, with or without a network name |
| How many independent shops have no chain affiliation? | 38,600 | No network name, network, group, franchise or manufacturer affiliation |
| How many general auto repair shops have no chain affiliation? | 22,500 | The MRA (mécaniciens réparateurs automobiles, the French term for general auto repair shops) in this group |
| How many body shops have no chain affiliation? | 7,800 | Body repair and paint shops in this group |
| How many shops have a network name or affiliation? | 19,500 | Outside the manufacturer channel: membership networks, franchises, cooperatives, auto service centers |
| How many dealerships and manufacturer-authorized agents are there? | 12,600 | The manufacturer channel, including about 1,400 manufacturer-authorized agents found during verification |
For your sales prospecting plan#
The target. If your offer is for shops that make their own purchasing decisions, target the 38,600 independent shops with no chain affiliation, starting with the 22,500 general auto repair shops and 7,800 body shops.
The networks. For the 19,500 network-affiliated shops, decisions often go through network headquarters: ten groups account for 12,334 of the 16,822 locations listed by the networks.
The territory. In southern France and Île-de-France, about 7 in 10 shops outside dealerships and agents have no chain affiliation; in western France, the figure is 1 in 2, so direct sales are less effective there and agreements with networks more effective.
The list. 4 in 10 independent shops were established in 2021 or later: a shop list needs updating at least once a year.
Levels 1 and 2. From automotive businesses to repair shops and sales channels#
Our repair shops page starts with 101,989 local automotive businesses in mainland France: repair shops, contrôle technique centers (which perform France's mandatory vehicle inspections), car washes, sales-only businesses, towing services and vehicle recyclers. It retains 69,062 repair shops and service facilities, locations where maintenance or repair is the core business. Of these, 12,600 are dealerships or manufacturer-authorized agents (including about 1,400 agents our verification found among shops classified as independent); the other 56,400 are outside the manufacturer channel, and many display a network's sign. Our October verification also found about 1,600 independent shops with no chain affiliation missing from the survey: they are added to the recorded shops in the total of 38,600.
| Level | Count | Share of shops | What is excluded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local automotive businesses | 101,989 | — | Businesses with no local automotive activity |
| Recorded repair shops | 69,062 | 100% | Contrôle technique only, car washing only, sales only, scrapyards, towing only |
| of which outside the manufacturer channel | 56,423 | 81.7% | Dealerships and manufacturer-authorized agents |
| of which dealerships and manufacturer-authorized agents (including about 1,400 agents found during verification) | 12,639 | 18.3% | |
| Independent shops with no chain affiliation missing from the survey, added by verification | 1,633 | outside the base |
Level 3. Structure: unaffiliated or network-affiliated#
Of the 69,062 recorded repair shops, 36,950 have no network name, network, group, franchise or manufacturer affiliation, or 53.5%: just over one shop in two. This is the first fact to keep in mind when selling to repair shops. With the 1,633 shops with no chain affiliation missing from the survey, 38,600 shops buy independently of a network's central purchasing organization; the other 32,100 recorded shops often buy through theirs.
| Business category | Shops | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Independent shops with no chain affiliation: no network name, network, group, franchise or manufacturer affiliation | 36,950 | 53.5% |
| Shops with a network name, network affiliation or franchise, outside the manufacturer channel | 19,473 | 28.2% |
| Dealerships and manufacturer-authorized agents (including about 1,400 agents found during verification) | 12,639 | 18.3% |
| Total recorded repair shops | 69,062 | 100% |
| Independent shops with no chain affiliation missing from the survey (added) | 1,633 | |
| Total independent shops with no chain affiliation | 38,583 |
Our first count classified 42,040 shops as having no network name, including partner shops of the Avatacar and idGarages platforms; verification of 1,350 randomly selected shops removed about 5,100 that actually had a network, group or manufacturer affiliation: about 1,400 manufacturer-authorized agents, counted with dealerships, and the others in the table's second row.
What the November 2026 verification confirms
In November 2026, Scalon randomly selected 100 shops classified as independent with no chain affiliation and arranged two independent reviews of each shop's public listing, registry entry and website, with neither review seeing the other. The reviews agreed on 92 shops; we resolved the other 8. Result: 89 were identified as independent shops with no chain affiliation, 3 as network-affiliated shops (a body shop approved as a manufacturer's partner, a dealership selling microcars that do not require a standard car license in France, a location in an engine tuning network), 1 location that is no longer a repair shop and 7 cases that public pages could not resolve. The confirmed error rate is 4 in 100 (at most 9.8%, with 95% confidence); counting the 7 unresolved cases as errors would still keep it below 18.6%. This review detects only some networks: the 3 found support the correction already applied to the total. The location that is no longer a shop, 1 in 100 (at most 5.4%), falls within the estimate's range: we did not change the total based on a single case.
Level 4. Independent auto repair shops by specialty#
Nearly 6 in 10 independent shops are general auto repair shops, and 2 in 10 are body shops. Specialists (diesel, transmissions, air conditioning, electrical work), mobile mechanics and auto glass shops make up the rest. Only 56 independent shops are auto service centers, a category in which almost all locations are network-affiliated.
| Specialty | Independent shops with no chain affiliation | Share |
|---|---|---|
| General auto repair shops (MRA) | 22,544 | 58.4% |
| Body shops | 7,826 | 20.3% |
| Specialists (diesel, transmissions, air conditioning, electrical work…) | 3,427 | 8.9% |
| Mobile mechanics, auto glass and other shops | 2,318 | 6.0% |
| Tire shops | 779 | 2.0% |
| Auto service centers | 56 | 0.1% |
| Shops missing from our file (specialty not reviewed) | 1,633 | 4.2% |
| Total | 38,583 | 100% |
The share with no chain affiliation varies widely by specialty: 91.2% of specialists, more than 7 in 10 body shops (71.8%), more than 6 in 10 general auto repair shops (61.8%), but 3 in 10 tire shops (34.4%) and 3.3% of auto service centers. Tire shops and auto service centers buy through their networks; general auto repair and body work remain fragmented.
Each specialty is a submarket with its own suppliers: paint and sheet metal for body shops, diagnostics and parts for general auto repair shops, portable equipment for the roughly 1,100 mobile mechanics. Specialists are more likely to advertise their services: 52.2% have a website in their own name, compared with 17.8% of general auto repair shops. Our study of shops that install tires shows that six in ten shops that install tires are general auto repair shops.
Level 5. The networks behind affiliated shops#
We classified 33 networks that publish a list of their locations in mainland France, totaling 16,822 listed locations. Their type is documented by a public page (network website, "become a member" page, trade press); it tells us who makes purchasing decisions.
| Network type | Networks | Listed locations | Share of locations | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membership networks and groups of independent shops | 13 | 9,964 | 59.2% | AD, Eurorepar Car Service, Motrio, AutoPrimo, Top Garage, Bosch Car Service |
| Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | 6 | 2,401 | 14.3% | Euromaster, Speedy, Norauto, Feu Vert, First Stop, Mondial Pare-Brise |
| Franchises | 7 | 2,006 | 11.9% | Midas, Eurotyre, Delko, Vulco, A+Glass, France Pare-Brise |
| Cooperatives and member-owned retail networks | 4 | 1,247 | 7.4% | Point S, Axial, Profil Plus, Roady |
| Company-owned locations | 2 | 1,084 | 6.4% | Carglass, 123 Pare-Brise |
| Type not established | 1 | 120 | 0.7% | ZeCarrossery |
| Total | 33 | 16,822 | 100% |
From networks to shops. The 19,473 shops with a network name, network affiliation or franchise outside the manufacturer channel come from two counts:
| Component | Shops | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Classified as network-affiliated by our repair shops page (affiliation documented on the listing) | 15,744 | 80.9% |
| Found to have a network, group or manufacturer affiliation through verification of 1,350 shops (manufacturer-authorized agents removed) | 3,729 | 19.1% |
| Total network-affiliated shops outside the manufacturer channel | 19,473 | 100% |
The networks' published lists cover only some of them: in our file, 10,152 network-affiliated shops appear in at least one of the 32 network lists matched in September, or 65.7% of those in the file. The others belong to networks with no public list or were not matched.
Membership networks dominate. An AD, Motrio or Top Garage shop remains an independent business that signs an agreement to use the network's name, often with its parts distributor; it is not a franchisee. Auto service centers mix company-owned and franchised locations: Norauto has about 270 company-owned centers and 143 franchises; Feu Vert has 167 company-owned locations and 183 franchises; Midas is almost entirely franchised.
The ten networks listing the most locations: AD (repair shops and body shops) 2,004, Eurorepar Car Service 1,496, Motrio 1,451, AutoPrimo 972, Carglass 889, Top Garage 867, Bosch Car Service 578, Garage Premier 546, Point S 541, Five Star 524. Together, 9,868 locations. Our repair shops page gave different numbers (AD 2,517, AutoPrimo 626, Top Garage 1,025): it counts shops whose affiliation is documented on their listing, whereas these are locations on the network's published list.
The groups behind the networks. A single corporate group often owns several repair shop brands. D'Ieteren, owner of parts distributor Autodistribution (AD, AutoPrimo) and largest shareholder of Belron (Carglass), accounts for 3,865 listed locations. Next come Alliance Automotive Group, a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (Top Garage, Garage Premier, Precisium, Top Carrosserie: 2,012), Stellantis (Eurorepar, 1,496) and Renault (Motrio, 1,451).
The top ten groups
| Group | Network names | Listed locations |
|---|---|---|
| D'Ieteren | AD, AutoPrimo, Carglass | 3,865 |
| Alliance Automotive Group (Genuine Parts Company) | Top Garage, Garage Premier, Precisium, Top Carrosserie | 2,012 |
| Stellantis | Eurorepar Car Service | 1,496 |
| Renault Group | Motrio | 1,451 |
| Bridgestone | Speedy, First Stop | 752 |
| Mobivia | Norauto, Midas | 752 |
| Robert Bosch | Bosch Car Service | 578 |
| Axalta | Five Star | 524 |
| Michelin | Euromaster | 483 |
| MACIF | Mondial Pare-Brise | 421 |
| Total for the ten groups | 12,334 |
The 33 networks, their type and their group
Locations on each network's published list (mainland France), collected from September to November 2026. A shop can appear on two lists; the locations cannot be added up to get a shop total.
| Network | Listed locations | Type | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| AD (repair shops and body shops) | 2,004 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Autodistribution (Parts Holding Europe, D'Ieteren) |
| Eurorepar Car Service | 1,496 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Stellantis |
| Motrio | 1,451 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Renault Group |
| AutoPrimo | 972 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Autodistribution (Parts Holding Europe, D'Ieteren) |
| Carglass | 889 | Company-owned locations | Belron (D'Ieteren) |
| Top Garage | 867 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Alliance Automotive Group (Genuine Parts Company) |
| Bosch Car Service | 578 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Robert Bosch |
| Garage Premier | 546 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Alliance Automotive Group (Genuine Parts Company) |
| Point S | 541 | Cooperatives and member-owned retail networks | member shareholders |
| Five Star | 524 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Axalta (GIE Five Star) |
| Euromaster | 483 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | Michelin |
| Speedy | 468 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | Bridgestone |
| A+Glass | 455 | Franchises | not established |
| France Pare-Brise | 454 | Franchises | not established |
| GlassAuto | 454 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | not established |
| Mondial Pare-Brise | 421 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | MACIF |
| Norauto | 410 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | Mobivia |
| Axial | 371 | Cooperatives and member-owned retail networks | member shareholders |
| Precisium | 344 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Alliance Automotive Group (Genuine Parts Company) |
| Midas | 342 | Franchises | Mobivia |
| Feu Vert | 335 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | Bassac |
| Autoneo | 316 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Centaure (paint distributors) |
| First Stop | 284 | Mix of company-owned and franchised locations | Bridgestone |
| Top Carrosserie | 255 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | Alliance Automotive Group (Genuine Parts Company) |
| Profil Plus | 220 | Cooperatives and member-owned retail networks | member owners |
| Eurotyre | 219 | Franchises | Continental |
| 123 Pare-Brise | 195 | Company-owned locations | Cary Group (51%) |
| Rapid Pare-Brise | 191 | Franchises | not established |
| Vulco | 173 | Franchises | Goodyear |
| Delko | 172 | Franchises | not established |
| Proximeca | 157 | Membership networks and groups of independent shops | not established |
| ZeCarrossery | 120 | Type not established | not established |
| Roady | 115 | Cooperatives and member-owned retail networks | Groupement Mousquetaires |
A network's own announced count can differ from its list: AD reported 2,341 shops in February 2026, Point S 690 centers at the end of 2025. Networks with no public list are absent from this table: Technicar (215 shops reported), Carflex (100 body shops), Mon Garage.
Platforms are not networks. Avatacar (Groupe Massa) and idGarages sell online appointment booking for shops that keep their own name, sign and suppliers. We therefore count their partner shops among independents with no chain affiliation, unless they also display a network's name. Avatacar lists 662 locations in mainland France and reported about 300 affiliated shops in October 2026; our repair shops page classified 697 under its name. Counting them as independent adds about 1,050 shops to the total: about 650 for the partner shops our repair shops page classified under their name, about 400 because verification no longer removes shops found only on Avatacar's list. The total is 38,600 instead of 37,500.
Selling to independent repair shops outside chains? Get the list for your area and your target, ready to call.
Get the full listLevel 6. Where are the independent auto repair shops?#
The share of independent shops with no chain affiliation ranges from 44% of shops outside the manufacturer channel in Mayenne (53) to 76% in Seine-Saint-Denis (93). Networks are most established in the West: 51% of shops have no chain affiliation in Brittany and 52% in Pays de la Loire, compared with 71% in Île-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Corsica. Our measurement does not say why.
| Region | Independent shops with no chain affiliation | Share of total | Share with no chain affiliation among shops outside the manufacturer channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 5,760 | 14.9% | 66% |
| Île-de-France | 4,820 | 12.5% | 71% |
| Occitanie | 4,590 | 11.9% | 68% |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur | 4,470 | 11.6% | 71% |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 3,970 | 10.3% | 62% |
| Grand Est | 3,540 | 9.2% | 67% |
| Hauts-de-France | 2,910 | 7.5% | 65% |
| Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | 1,960 | 5.1% | 63% |
| Normandie | 1,730 | 4.5% | 58% |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 1,610 | 4.2% | 63% |
| Pays de la Loire | 1,580 | 4.1% | 52% |
| Brittany | 1,360 | 3.5% | 51% |
| Corsica | 290 | 0.7% | 71% |
| Total | 38,590 | 100% | 65% |
Counts are rounded to the nearest ten and shares to one decimal place: their sum, 38,590, differs by a few units from the total of 38,583.
Find your department (96 French county-level areas in mainland France)
| Department | Independent shops with no chain affiliation (approx.) | Share with no chain affiliation among shops outside the manufacturer channel |
|---|---|---|
| Ain (01) | 510 | 67% |
| Aisne (02) | 310 | 65% |
| Allier (03) | 240 | 61% |
| Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) * | 140 | 62% |
| Hautes-Alpes (05) * | 160 | 65% |
| Alpes-Maritimes (06) | 960 | 75% |
| Ardèche (07) | 260 | 66% |
| Ardennes (08) * | 190 | 66% |
| Ariège (09) * | 130 | 60% |
| Aube (10) * | 180 | 59% |
| Aude (11) | 290 | 66% |
| Aveyron (12) | 250 | 63% |
| Bouches-du-Rhône (13) | 1,750 | 73% |
| Calvados (14) | 340 | 54% |
| Cantal (15) * | 90 | 53% |
| Charente (16) | 260 | 58% |
| Charente-Maritime (17) | 430 | 61% |
| Cher (18) * | 180 | 63% |
| Corrèze (19) * | 170 | 62% |
| Côte-d'Or (21) | 310 | 62% |
| Côtes-d'Armor (22) | 280 | 50% |
| Creuse (23) * | 100 | 60% |
| Dordogne (24) | 340 | 64% |
| Doubs (25) | 380 | 66% |
| Drôme (26) | 430 | 68% |
| Eure (27) | 440 | 66% |
| Eure-et-Loir (28) | 300 | 67% |
| Finistère (29) | 290 | 46% |
| Corse-du-Sud (2A) * | 120 | 70% |
| Haute-Corse (2B) * | 170 | 72% |
| Gard (30) | 630 | 72% |
| Haute-Garonne (31) | 810 | 68% |
| Gers (32) * | 160 | 59% |
| Gironde (33) | 970 | 66% |
| Hérault (34) | 850 | 69% |
| Ille-et-Vilaine (35) | 450 | 53% |
| Indre (36) * | 160 | 63% |
| Indre-et-Loire (37) | 330 | 60% |
| Isère (38) | 880 | 65% |
| Jura (39) * | 170 | 58% |
| Landes (40) | 280 | 62% |
| Loir-et-Cher (41) | 200 | 55% |
| Loire (42) | 610 | 69% |
| Haute-Loire (43) * | 190 | 63% |
| Loire-Atlantique (44) | 500 | 55% |
| Loiret (45) | 430 | 67% |
| Lot (46) * | 170 | 66% |
| Lot-et-Garonne (47) | 280 | 61% |
| Lozère (48) * | 70 | 61% |
| Maine-et-Loire (49) | 390 | 55% |
| Manche (50) | 250 | 51% |
| Marne (51) | 280 | 62% |
| Haute-Marne (52) * | 120 | 59% |
| Mayenne (53) * | 140 | 44% |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 440 | 68% |
| Meuse (55) * | 110 | 61% |
| Morbihan (56) | 330 | 55% |
| Moselle (57) | 700 | 70% |
| Nièvre (58) * | 130 | 57% |
| Nord (59) | 1,080 | 66% |
| Oise (60) | 540 | 66% |
| Orne (61) * | 150 | 50% |
| Pas-de-Calais (62) | 690 | 64% |
| Puy-de-Dôme (63) | 470 | 64% |
| Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64) | 460 | 64% |
| Hautes-Pyrénées (65) * | 170 | 69% |
| Pyrénées-Orientales (66) | 480 | 75% |
| Bas-Rhin (67) | 700 | 69% |
| Haut-Rhin (68) | 500 | 69% |
| Rhône (69) | 1,100 | 69% |
| Haute-Saône (70) * | 180 | 60% |
| Saône-et-Loire (71) | 420 | 62% |
| Sarthe (72) | 230 | 49% |
| Savoie (73) | 340 | 67% |
| Haute-Savoie (74) | 630 | 68% |
| Paris (75) * | 180 | 69% |
| Seine-Maritime (76) | 540 | 59% |
| Seine-et-Marne (77) | 840 | 69% |
| Yvelines (78) | 660 | 68% |
| Deux-Sèvres (79) | 190 | 46% |
| Somme (80) | 290 | 62% |
| Tarn (81) | 360 | 69% |
| Tarn-et-Garonne (82) * | 210 | 68% |
| Var (83) | 900 | 68% |
| Vaucluse (84) | 570 | 72% |
| Vendée (85) | 320 | 50% |
| Vienne (86) | 230 | 55% |
| Haute-Vienne (87) | 260 | 67% |
| Vosges (88) | 310 | 66% |
| Yonne (89) | 240 | 67% |
| Territoire de Belfort (90) * | 120 | 75% |
| Essonne (91) | 770 | 72% |
| Hauts-de-Seine (92) | 340 | 68% |
| Seine-Saint-Denis (93) | 790 | 76% |
| Val-de-Marne (94) | 470 | 71% |
| Val-d'Oise (95) | 790 | 75% |
| Mainland France total | 38,550 | 65% |
\* fewer than 300 independent shops in our file (27 departments): interpret the share with caution. Counts are rounded to the nearest ten; their sum may differ from the national total by a few tens. The calculation is described in the method.
We applied the same adjustment from the verification to every department; we did not measure a separate adjustment for each one. In Haute-Loire, a file checked shop by shop gives a lower share, about 5 in 10.
The five highest and five lowest shares, and the largest counts
The five highest shares
- Seine-Saint-Denis (93): 76%
- Alpes-Maritimes (06): 75%
- Pyrénées-Orientales (66): 75%
- Val-d'Oise (95): 75%
- Territoire de Belfort (90): 75%
The five lowest shares
- Mayenne (53): 44%
- Finistère (29): 46%
- Deux-Sèvres (79): 46%
- Sarthe (72): 49%
- Vendée (85): 50%
The departments with the most independent shops with no chain affiliation
- Bouches-du-Rhône (13): 1,750
- Rhône (69): 1,100
- Nord (59): 1,080
- Gironde (33): 970
- Alpes-Maritimes (06): 960
How big an account is an independent shop?#
An independent shop with no chain affiliation is a small account, often run by its owner. Among companies with no more than three locations that publish financial statements, an independent repair company typically generates about €320,000 in annual revenue: a third as much as a network-affiliated company (€1.0M) and an eighth as much as a dealership or manufacturer-authorized agent (€2.6M, including car sales). This figure applies only to companies that publish their financial statements, 1,558 out of 19,968, fewer than 1 in 12: the smallest publish nothing, and the typical figure for the whole group is probably lower.
| Profile | Independent shops with no chain affiliation | Network-affiliated shops | Dealerships and agents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietorship | 23.4% | 8.7% | 3.0% |
| Location with at least one employee | 61.6% | 87.5% | 93.6% |
| Location with 10 or more employees | 2.9% | 12.1% | 26.0% |
| Typical age of the location | 7.9 years | 11.8 years | 18.8 years |
| Established in 2021 or later | 40.8% | 25.7% | 14.0% |
| Company operating at least two repair shops | 3.0% | 11.1% | 7.4% |
| Typical revenue (companies with no more than three locations that publish financial statements) | €320,000 | €1.0M | €2.6M |
These groups are those in our file before verification. We linked 68.2% of independent shops to the Sirene register, compared with 83% to 85% of the others: the smallest are probably less well represented. The sole proprietorship shares count businesses; the others count shops. For a seller, the implication is direct: an independent shop decides quickly and on its own, but buys little at a time. One business in four is a sole proprietorship, and nearly 4 in 10 shops have no employees; among mobile mechanics, 60.2% are sole proprietorships. A typical general auto repair shop generates about €290,000, a body shop about €420,000. Independent shops rarely operate under the same company as other shops (3.0%); the typical independent shop operates at a single address.
Together, these shops carry weight: independent mechanical repair shops, network-affiliated or otherwise, accounted for 33.1% of the consumer aftermarket in 2025, ahead of manufacturer networks (31.6%), according to the FIEV and FEDA barometer. Insee (France's national statistics office) measured €28.3B in revenue in 2023 for the 63,704 maintenance and repair businesses.
Revenue of independent repair companies, by bracket
| Company revenue | Companies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under €100,000 | 212 | 13.6% |
| €100,000 to €250,000 | 422 | 27.1% |
| €250,000 to €500,000 | 337 | 21.6% |
| €500,000 to €1M | 282 | 18.1% |
| €1M to €2M | 174 | 11.2% |
| €2M to €5M | 69 | 4.4% |
| €5M or more | 62 | 4.0% |
| Total | 1,558 | 100% |
Revenue is the company's, counted once per company, for the latest fiscal year ending in 2023 or later.
Openings and closures: what the register says
Independent shops are young: 40.8% of those we linked to the register were established in 2021 or later, compared with 25.7% of network-affiliated shops. Some of these new registrations are takeovers or relocations, which create a new location in the register. Conversely, 10.9% of the independent shops linked to the register are recorded there as closed even though their public listings still showed them as open (1.8% of network-affiliated shops): the register does not say whether this reflects a relocation, a takeover under a different registration number or a closure.
To put the trend in context, the register of all locations classified under the car maintenance and repair code (repair shops or otherwise, all business structures, all of France) records 18,785 new registrations in 2025 compared with 8,565 in 2015, and 12,937 closures compared with 6,168. As for financial distress, 1,203 repair and body shop businesses entered insolvency proceedings from October 2025 to September 2026, up 9.8% in one year (J2R).
| Year | New registrations | Closures |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8,565 | 6,168 |
| 2016 | 8,524 | 6,066 |
| 2017 | 8,180 | 6,035 |
| 2018 | 9,062 | 6,123 |
| 2019 | 10,325 | 6,245 |
| 2020 | 10,406 | 7,145 |
| 2021 | 11,914 | 7,569 |
| 2022 | 12,467 | 7,162 |
| 2023 | 14,465 | 9,554 |
| 2024 | 16,687 | 12,159 |
| 2025 | 18,785 | 12,937 |
How do you reach independent auto repair shops?#
Phone remains the way to reach them: every shop in our file lists a number, and 42% of independents with no chain affiliation list a mobile number, compared with 6.2% of network-affiliated shops. At an independent shop, the owner often answers.
Websites are less common: 33.1% of independents with no chain affiliation list one, and 22.7% have a website in their own name; among network-affiliated shops, 85.8% link to a website, often their network's page. The email benchmark is broader: in a sample of 3,000 automotive businesses from November 2026, 23% of light vehicle repair shops publish a generic address (contact@, info@).
How do you build a prospect list of independent auto repair shops?#
A useful list does not start with code 45.20A alone: it would miss 1 independent shop in 4 and keep locations with no repair facility. It starts with shops that are actually open, removes dealerships and agents, then removes shops with a network name, network, franchise or group affiliation. To check a shop yourself: look up its address in each network's locator (AD, Motrio, Eurorepar, Top Garage…), read its listing and website ("adhérent" meaning member, "membre" meaning member, "partenaire agréé" meaning approved partner), and check its phone number (a number starting with 06 or 07 is often the owner's). Then add each shop's specialty, business form (sole proprietorship or company), employee count and department. The market size calculator helps define this scope.
Why do published figures vary so much?#
Published figures for repair shops count different things in different years. Insee counts businesses, ANFA counts locations with employees, research firm GiPA counts the shops it surveys, and the Sirene register counts registered locations. We count repair shops open to the public, one per address, classified by what they do and what they display. These figures are accurate; they measure different things.
Two gaps deserve an explanation. The Sirene register counts 107,120 active locations under the car maintenance and repair code in mainland France: it includes locations with no repair facility or visible activity, and misses a quarter of independent shops, which are registered under another code. In 2023, GiPA found 68% of general auto repair shops "displaying a supplier or network sign," while we find about 4 in 10: GiPA counts a supplier's sign, and GiPA counts 14,000 general auto repair shops while we count 36,483 outside the manufacturer channel. In 2024, L'argus counted about 21,000 repair facilities in independent repair shop networks; we count about 13,900 among general auto repair shops outside dealerships and agents. The gap runs in the same direction as GiPA's.
What other sources say, with figures
| Source | Figure | What it counts | Why it differs from 38,600 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insee, commerce par activité, 2023 | 63,704 businesses, €28.3B in revenue | Maintenance and repair businesses, all of France | A business can have several shops; all channels are counted |
| Sirene register, September 24, 2026 | 107,120 active locations | Locations registered under code 45.20A, mainland France | No filtering by actual activity; some shops are registered under other codes |
| ANFA, Autofocus n° 105, 2023 | 9,293 general auto repair shops with a network name; about 11,000 with no network name and with employees; nearly 40,000 locations with no employees | General auto repair shops and locations in the industry | Separates shops with employees from the others |
| GiPA, reported by Auto-Infos, 2023 | 14,000 general auto repair shops, of which 68% display a supplier or network sign | Shops counted by the firm | Sign in the broad sense; general auto repair shops only |
| L'argus, 2024 | About 21,000 shops in independent auto repair networks | Members of networks serving all makes | General auto repair only; we count about 13,900 network-affiliated shops |
| Zepros, 2026 | 21,905 general auto repair shops, with and without a network name | Repair shops outside manufacturer networks | General auto repair only; we count 36,483 outside the manufacturer channel |
| Xerfi, 2019 (published in 2022) | 61% of independent repair companies serving all makes have a network name | Share of companies, not shops | Older measurement, counting companies |
| Observatoire Scalon, September 2026 | 57,784 outside the manufacturer channel, August classification, including 25,590 general auto repair shops with no established network affiliation (26,286 with partner shops of the Avatacar and idGarages platforms) | Outside the manufacturer channel, August classification, before verification | This first count included shops that actually have a network |
Auto-Infos' concern and what we corrected
On September 22, 2026, Auto-Infos, a news website for automotive professionals, raised a concern about our repair shops page: "no established network affiliation" does not mean "no supplier or network sign." So in October 2026, we checked 1,350 randomly selected shops among those our file classified as having no network name: 86 actually had a network or manufacturer affiliation (93 if Avatacar is counted as a network). Since this review misses some networks (it finds 37 out of 70 in files already checked shop by shop), we removed about 12% of shops classified as having no network name, then added those missing from our file. The first count of 41,335 shops with no network name (42,040 including the platforms' partner shops) became 38,600. The details are in the method.
Need the list of independent repair shops outside chains? We send it with the contact details available, for the scope you choose.
Get the full listWhich activity code applies to an independent auto repair shop?#
An independent auto repair shop maintains and repairs cars for individuals and businesses, at its shop or at the customer's location, without belonging to a chain. Its most common NAF code (the French activity classification code, also called APE code) is 45.20A, maintenance and repair of light motor vehicles, but the code alone is not enough to find it: among independent shops with no chain affiliation that we linked to the register, 75.7% are registered under 45.20A. The others are registered under car sales (12.9%), parts sales (3.1%), machining or other codes.
Market terminology
| Term | Simple definition |
|---|---|
| Independent auto repair shop | A shop that maintains or repairs cars with no chain, franchise, network name, group or manufacturer affiliation: it chooses its own suppliers |
| Outside the manufacturer channel | A shop that is neither a dealership nor a manufacturer-authorized agent; it can display a network's name |
| MRA | General auto repair shop: a shop that repairs all makes |
| Manufacturer-authorized agent | A repair shop under contract with a car manufacturer, often in a small town |
| Dealership | A location selling a manufacturer's new cars, with its own repair shop |
| Membership network | Independent shops that sign a branding agreement with a parts distributor, automaker or automotive supplier covering signage, purchasing and tools |
| Franchise | An agreement under which a shop owner runs their own business using a network's concept in exchange for a fee |
| Company-owned location | A location owned and operated by the network itself |
| Cooperative or buying group | A network owned by its members |
| Corporate group | A company that controls one or more network operators |
Frequently asked questions#
How many independent auto repair shops are there in France?#
About 38,600 independent shops with no chain, franchise, network name, group or manufacturer affiliation in mainland France (Scalon Observatory, November 2026). In terms of the sales channel, about 56,400 of the 69,062 recorded shops are outside dealerships and manufacturer-authorized agents (about 58,100 with the 1,600 missing from the survey), including 19,500 network-affiliated shops.
Is an AD or Motrio shop independent?#
The owner runs their own business, and the shop is outside the manufacturer channel: it is not a manufacturer's agent. But it is not unaffiliated: it displays the name of a membership network, AD (D'Ieteren) or Motrio (Renault), and some of its purchasing goes through that network. We do not include it in the 38,600.
What is the difference between a membership network and a franchise?#
In a membership network, the shop keeps its company name and signs an agreement to use the network's name, often with its parts distributor. In a franchise, the franchisee operates the network's complete business concept in exchange for a fee. Membership networks account for 59% of the locations listed by networks, franchises 11.9%.
How much revenue does an independent auto repair shop generate?#
About €320,000 per year for the typical company among those that publish their financial statements; €290,000 for a general auto repair shop and €420,000 for a body shop. The smallest do not publish: the typical figure for the whole group is probably lower.
Which activity code are independent auto repair shops registered under?#
Most often 45.20A (maintenance and repair of light motor vehicles), but 1 independent shop in 4 is registered under another code, mainly car sales (45.11Z).
Which regions have the most independent auto repair shops?#
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (about 5,760), Île-de-France (4,820), Occitanie (4,590) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (4,470). The share with no chain affiliation is highest in Corsica, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Île-de-France, and lowest in Brittany.
Are independent auto repair shops new businesses?#
Often: 40.8% of independent shops with no chain affiliation linked to the register were established in 2021 or later, compared with 25.7% of network-affiliated shops and 14.0% of dealerships. Their typical age is 7.9 years. Some of these new registrations are takeovers or relocations.
Can an independent auto repair shop repair newer cars?#
Yes. Manufacturers must give independent repair shops access to vehicles' technical information (règlement européen 2018/858, an EU regulation, article 61), and a warranty offered voluntarily to the customer cannot require servicing within the manufacturer's network: the maintenance booklet must state this (arrêté du 26 mai 2014, a French ministerial order). These two rules let independent shops serve owners of newer cars, sustaining the shops' need for diagnostics and technical data. The shop must also post its prices at the entrance to the service area (arrêté du 27 mars 1987): noncompliance can cost an individual up to €3,000 and a company up to €15,000.
Method#
The total comes from our repair shops page, checked in October 2026 against 1,350 randomly selected shops. The profiles (size, age, revenue, activity code) come from the Sirene register and published financial statements, linked shop by shop on November 9, 2026. Networks are counted using their published lists and classified using their public pages. 100 shops were reviewed twice in November 2026.
Method details
- Counting unit: a repair shop open to the public, one listing per address (public business listing deduplicated by phone number and postal code), as it stood when recorded. A company with ten shops counts as ten.
- Population: the study file contains 60,957 classified shops (specialty, channel, network name) with supporting quotations, delivered on August 31, 2026, including 51,634 outside the manufacturer channel. The national totals (69,062 shops, 57,784 outside the manufacturer channel in the August classification, 11,278 dealerships and agents) come from our repair shops page, which extrapolates this file to mainland France.
- The total of 38,600: 42,040 shops classified as having no network name on the repair shops page (57,784 minus 15,744 network-affiliated shops), with partner shops of the Avatacar and idGarages platforms (about 705) counted as having no network name. October 2026 verification: random selection of 1,350 shops from the 37,190 classified as having no network name in the file, in three groups of 450 (cities with 10,000 or more residents, small towns, municipalities with fewer than 2,000 residents); search through the lists published by 32 networks (setting aside Avatacar's list, since Avatacar is a platform), then review of the listing and website, with the exact sentence copied and rechecked: 86 shops out of 1,350 have a network or manufacturer affiliation (6.4% after weighting the three groups). This review, tested on 362 shops already checked one by one in six prospecting files, finds 37 networks or manufacturer affiliations out of 70 (53%): the corrected share is 12% (8.6% to 19.5%), leaving about 37,000 shops; platform partner shops, not in the sample, receive the same correction. Coverage: in those same files, our file contains 81.3% of independent shops with no network, hence about 1,600 shops added. Total: 38,583, between 33,900 and 42,900 (resampling by department and shop).
- Market structure (base adopted by Scalon's count reconciliation of November 9, 2026: 69,062 recorded shops): 36,950 recorded independents with no chain affiliation; 19,473 with a network name, network, group or franchise affiliation outside the manufacturer channel; 12,639 dealerships and agents (11,278 from the repair shops page plus about 1,361 manufacturer-authorized agents the file classified as independent, based on the 23 agents only among the 86 network-affiliated shops found during verification, applied to the 5,090 shops removed). The 1,633 shops with no chain affiliation missing from the survey are added outside the base: 38,583 with no chain affiliation in total. Other definition, not used for shares: 59,417 outside the manufacturer channel in the August classification, after correcting coverage (57,784 + 1,633, base 70,695).
- Specialties: shares measured in the file, corrected specialty by specialty through verification (see the October version of the page). Mobile mechanics (about 1,117) are estimated within the "mobile mechanics, auto glass and other shops" group based on their share in the file.
- Networks: 33 networks whose locations were collected from their locator or public list in mainland France, from September to November 2026, with duplicate addresses and phone numbers removed. The type (membership network, franchise, company-owned locations, cooperative, mixed) and group are established through a dated public page: network website, member or franchisee recruitment page, Fédération française de la franchise directory, trade press (J2R, Auto-Infos, Zepros, L'argus, Journal du pneu), group press releases. Without evidence, "type not established." Avatacar and idGarages, online booking platforms, are not networks: their partner shops remain independent unless they display another network's name. A discrepancy: Mondial Pare-Brise is linked to MACIF on its website, to D'Ieteren by sources from 2022; we use MACIF.
- Linking to the register and financial statements: each shop in the file is linked through its exact public listing to the Scalon graph, then to its Sirene location (59,011 shops linked to a location in the graph, 42,833 to a SIRET number (the French ID of a business location), reviewed on November 9, 2026). When a shop has several SIRET numbers, we retain the active automotive location. Register: Insee's Sirene data snapshot dated September 24, 2026. Revenue: latest fiscal year ending in 2023 or later, company revenue counted once per company, excluding confidential financial statements recorded as zero, company and location registered under an automotive code; companies with no more than three active locations, for all three groups (beyond that, the matching often links an independent shop listing to a large company: 1,337 companies excluded out of 21,305). "Typical revenue" is the middle value among companies that publish financial statements (1,558 independent repair companies, 1,194 network-affiliated companies, 648 dealerships and agents). Without this size filter, it would be €1.1M for network-affiliated companies and €4.6M for dealerships. The profile groups are those in the file before correction: a small share of "unaffiliated" shops actually have a network.
- November 2026 check: 100 randomly selected shops (seed 20261109) among independents classified as having no network name and absent from the networks' lists and Avatacar's list (sample drawn before the decision on platforms), in mainland France. Each case includes the public listing, classification quotations, register and website home page read on November 9, 2026. Scalon had each shop reviewed twice, independently, with neither review seeing the other; the two reviews agreed on 92 shops, and a third review resolved the 8 disagreements. Result: 89 identified as independent shops with no chain affiliation, 3 network-affiliated, 1 not a repair shop, 7 unresolved. Confirmed error: 4 in 100, at most 9.8% (95% Wilson interval); at most 18.6% if the 7 unresolved cases were errors. The location that is not a repair shop (1 in 100, at most 5.4%) is not removed from the total: a single case does not justify shifting an estimate whose range runs from 33,900 to 42,900, and the check of 100 locations on our repair shops page found no confirmed error. If the 7 unresolved cases were not active repair shops, the total would fall by about 2,700 shops, a decrease still within the estimate's range.
- 45.20A register: all locations under code 45.20A in the Sirene data snapshot; 107,120 active in mainland France as of September 24, 2026; new registrations by the location's year of establishment, closures by the date the location's status changed to closed.
- Contact availability: phone and website from the public listing; mobile number = number starting with 06 or 07; website in the shop's own name = domain shared by fewer than three shops in the file, excluding social media and directories. Generic email: Scalon's automotive market estimates page, sample of 3,000 locations from November 5, 2026, all channels.
- Rounding: totals are rounded to the nearest hundred in the text; tables retain the calculated numbers; shares are rounded to one decimal place.
- Edition history: October 14, 2026, first publication ("37,500 independent auto repair shops in France have no chain affiliation", 1,350 shops checked); November 9, 2026, new edition: title "Number of independent auto repair shops in France", B2B definition (no chain, franchise, network name, buying group or manufacturer affiliation) instead of "no network name or brand", same total of 37,500; added market structure, networks by type and group, account size and the 100-shop check; the same day, Avatacar and idGarages were reclassified as platforms rather than networks: their partner shops with no other network name joined the independents with no chain affiliation, and the total went from 37,500 to 38,600 (37,533 to 38,583).
- What is not counted: overseas France and shops for heavy trucks, motorcycles only or farm machinery.
Key takeaways#
About 38,600 independent repair shops have no chain, franchise, network name, group or manufacturer affiliation in mainland France, just over one shop in two. The others operate through 33 listed networks, mainly membership networks run by parts distributors, and ten groups, led by D'Ieteren. The typical independent shop is small (€320,000 in revenue among those that publish financial statements), young and reachable by phone, often on the owner's mobile.