New Matriculation System

[Quillan]

I see ffrom 2007 there will be a different, national number plate scheme in France. Will only new cars have these plates or will we all be changed over. This was not clear in the artical I read nor was it clear that if existing car owners have to change their plate, carte grise etc who will pay. Actually I suppose the last bit (paying) is a bit obvious really.

[Val_2]

If you can get a copy of The Connexion newspaper printed in France for english speakers (I was sent a free trial copy last week) there is an in-depth article about this new immatriculation on page 10. I get the impression that every vehicle whether old or new will be subject to the change because there will be no dept numbers included,you can add these yourself at the end in a little panel and you will never have to change the number again if you move dept. They say we should be changing over in 2008 and its suppose to cut the fonctionnaires work and help the police check on vehicles and will be issued chronologically in a nationwide sequence.

[BJSLIV]

It was talked about last year, and will eventually mean the end of "I spy" for departement number plates. But you keep your existing number plate until the vehicle is sold or you move house. But after that the vehicle will not need to change number plate at all.

The main reason for the change is that the old system is running out of number combinations, as the UK did a few years ago.

Les véhicules recevront ce nouveau numéro d’immatriculation à partir de 2008 :

  les véhicules neufs l’auront dès leur première mise en circulation ;
  les véhicules d’occasion se verront attribuer ce numéro lors de leur première revente, lors d’un changement d’adresse ou de toute autre modification affectant la carte grise.

[Mysfloss]

As I understood it the old numbers would be phased out using the controle technique visit( as well as those mentioned above)

[BJSLIV]

The Prime Minister doesn't mention anything to do with the CT

http://www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr/information/actualites_20/vers_un_nouveau_systeme_53299.html

[Motorhead]

The problem here is that nobody knows what the hell will happen. The government wanted to introduce it all at once but the plaque manufacturers, upon whom the scheme will depend, were not happy bunnies about it.

Expect a bit of fine tuning before the end. My understanding is that it is the plaque makers who want the CT approach as this lets them plan the logistics of the supply best.