Car Shipping to France
from the United Kingdom
France is easily accessible from the UK with both RORO and container options. The Ship Cars offers competitive rates to Le Havre, Marseille, and other French ports with transit times as short as 2–3 days. View our shipping services or request a quote.
Methods
RORO & Container
Transit Time
2–5 days to Le Havre/Calais
Ports
Le Havre, Marseille +2
Starting From
£400
Overview
France is easily accessible from the UK with both RORO and container options. The Ship Cars offers competitive rates to Le Havre, Marseille, and other French ports with transit times as short as 2–3 days.
Shipping Methods
RORO and container shipping available. RORO is most popular for its speed and cost-effectiveness. Channel crossings via short-sea RORO also available.
Shared Container Shipping to France
For enclosed protection at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated container, our shared container shipping service consolidates two to four UK vehicles bound for France into a single sealed 40ft high-cube container. Typically 25–35% cheaper than a dedicated container, with marine all-risks insurance, professional racking and personal-effects allowance included. See the full shared container shipping page for routes, prices and sailing schedules to France.
Explore shared container shippingTransit Time
2–5 days to Le Havre/Calais. 5–8 days to Marseille (Mediterranean coast).
Import Regulations
Post-Brexit, UK vehicles require EU type approval or DREAL homologation. Import duty 10% plus 20% TVA (French VAT). Registration with French plates (carte grise) required. Vehicles must pass the contrôle technique inspection.
Documents Required
- V5C registration
- Passport
- Commercial invoice
- Bill of Lading
- Certificate of Conformity
- Contrôle technique report
Costs & Fees
RORO from £400–£800. Container from £1,000–£1,500. Import duty 10%. TVA 20%. Registration fees vary by region.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly can I ship a car to France?
Do I need to convert my car to left-hand drive for France?
How long does it take to ship a car from the UK to France?
Which UK ports do you ship from to France?
What documents do I need to ship a car to France?
What shipping methods are available from the UK to France?
How much does it cost to ship a car from the UK to France?
Shared Container Shipping to France — FAQs
Common questions about shared container shipping to France from the United Kingdom.
Do you offer shared container shipping to France?
How much cheaper is shared container shipping to France than a dedicated container?
Can I put personal effects in the car when shipping to France by shared container?
Available Ports
Why ship a car to France from the UK
The Ship Cars is a specialist UK vehicle export company moving cars, SUVs, classics, motorbikes and light commercials to France every month. Post-Brexit Europe is still the lowest-friction export market for British-registered vehicles, with weekly RORO frequency, mature customs brokerage and predictable inland trucking once the vehicle clears the destination port. Typical clients on this lane include EU-based dealers sourcing British stock, alongside private owners relocating to France and returning residents importing a personal vehicle. Our UK-to-France corridor is engineered around predictable transit, transparent pricing and full compliance with France customs.
Vehicles depart from Liverpool, Tilbury, Immingham and arrive at Le Havre, Marseille, Calais and 1 more port via short-sea Channel and North Sea routings. Typical door-to-port turnaround is 2–5 days to le havre/calais, supported by marine all-risks insurance, GPS-tracked UK collection and bonded warehousing where required. For an instant indication of cost, use our car shipping cost calculator or request a tailored quote on our quote page.
How UK to France car shipping works
Every shipment to France follows the same six-step pipeline: free quotation, UK collection or self-drop at Liverpool, bonded UK warehousing and pre-shipment photos, HMRC NOVA / C88 export clearance handled by our UK customs clearance team, ocean transit to Le Havre (and onward feeder to Marseille where required), and destination customs handover. You choose the shipping mode that best matches the vehicle profile and budget — see the full breakdown on our car shipping costs page or compare live RORO sailing dates to France.
RORO to France
Roll-on/Roll-off is the lowest-cost method for running, road-legal vehicles bound for France. Drive-on at the UK port, drive-off at Le Havre. RORO shipping to France — check the weekly RORO schedule.
Container to France
20ft sole-use or 40ft dedicated containers give classic, high-value, modified or non-running vehicles fully enclosed protection on the route to Marseille. Dedicated container shipping to France.
Shared container to France
Two to four UK vehicles consolidated into a sealed 40ft container — typically 25–35% cheaper than a sole-use container. Shared container shipping to France — get a shared container cost estimate.
France ports, routing and transit
Vehicles bound for France are typically routed through Le Havre as the lead discharge port, with Marseille, Calais, Dunkirk available as alternatives depending on sailing schedule and onward inland transport. We schedule loads to match weekly RORO sailing schedules to France and consolidated shared container departures from the UK. For sole-use loads we book 20ft and 40ft container slots on the same rotation.
- Port of Le Havre
- Port of Marseille
- Port of Calais
- Port of Dunkirk
- UK departure: Southampton
- UK departure: Tilbury
- UK departure: Bristol (Portbury)
France import duty, VAT and customs in 2026
Importing a vehicle into France is regulated and document-driven. The headline framework is summarised below; our team verifies every figure against the latest France customs schedule before quoting.
- EU type approval and Certificate of Conformity (CoC)
- Post-Brexit 10% import duty and country-specific VAT (TVA, IVA, MwSt, BTW)
- National roadworthiness inspections (ITV, contrôle technique, TÜV, APK, IPO)
- Re-registration with local plates and CO2-based road tax
Document checklist for France
- V5C registration
- Passport
- Commercial invoice
- Bill of Lading
- Certificate of Conformity
- Contrôle technique report
For full country-specific customs rules, see our France import guides and articles, our UK and France customs clearance service, or use the duty-inclusive cost calculator for a landed estimate to Le Havre.
Who ships to France
- • Returning France residents and dual nationals
- • UK expats relocating to France
- • Europe car dealers and France re-exporters
- • Private collectors and classic-car enthusiasts
- • Diplomatic missions and corporate fleets
- • Online auction buyers (Copart, BCA, Manheim)
Vehicles we ship to France
- • Saloons, hatchbacks and family cars
- • SUVs, 4x4s and pickups (Land Rover, Range Rover, Toyota, Nissan)
- • Luxury and executive vehicles (Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi)
- • Performance and supercars (McLaren, Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari)
- • Classic and historic vehicles (pre-1990 with HMRC NOVA exemption)
- • Motorbikes, scooters and quad bikes
- • Vans, light commercials and motorhomes
- • Electric and hybrid vehicles (EV battery documentation supported)
Why exporters choose The Ship Cars for France
• Specialist UK-to-France corridor with weekly capacity
• Marine all-risks insurance and bonded UK warehousing
• HMRC NOVA, C88, EORI and DVLA V5C export handled in-house
• Transparent UK to France pricing with no hidden destination fees
• Direct relationships with Le Havre agents
• Dedicated account manager from booking to delivery
Related services and tools for shipping to France
Shipping methods
Pricing & schedules
Guides & comparisons
Other Europe destinations from the UK
We ship to 8+ other Europe countries from the UK on the same trade lanes as France. Many customers shipping to France also enquire about Spain, Germany, Belgium because routing, customs documentation and transit windows overlap.
Get an instant quote for car shipping to France
Our France corridor team responds through the online quote form. We confirm port pairing, container slot and indicative duty in a single reply.