Background: A quantitative assessment of the risk of cancer (lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma) due to asbestos exposure among the population of automotive mechanics was conducted. Methods: The population was selected from 1999 census data (INSEE), by 5-year age group, according to economic sectors, occupations, and socioeconomic categories within the working population. Risk calculations were performed for 242,360 men aged 16 to 60. Mechanics’ asbestos exposure is primarily associated with work on friable components of vehicles manufactured prior to 1997. Available dust concentration measurements showed considerable variability. Since no data characterizing the time spent on these tasks during a workweek existed, weekly exposure profiles were simulated based on different levels associated with the tasks and data from the 1994 SUMER survey. The models applied are those typically used by international health authorities to assess the carcinogenic effects of chrysotile. The exposure scenarios included in the calculations combine different task-specific levels with two time periods, different distributions of the proportion of exposed mechanics, and two dates for the phasing out of the vehicle fleet. The most realistic scenario assumes that all mechanics were exposed to asbestos at a level ranging from 0.06 to 0.25 fibers/ml per week on average during the period prior to 1997, and from 0.01 to 0.06 during the period from 1998 to 2010. Results: According to this scenario, the number of deaths from lung cancer and mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure (lifetime) in this population of mechanics would be 602 deaths already “determined” by exposure prior to 2003 and therefore unavoidable, and 43 additional deaths if no measures were taken to change the state of the vehicle fleet.