For Emilie Malherbe, choosing the color of her brand new Renault Arkana SUV was easy because only three were available: black, pearl-white and gray.

She and her husband swiftly settled on gray because what mattered most was getting the car delivered quickly.

"We heard on television that we could face delays of six to eight months to get a new car," said Malherbe, 41, a resident of the Calvados region in northern France. "I smiled when I was told 30 days. But I got it in 15 days, which was great."