Italy sales fall 8% despite rise in private demand

MILAN -- New-car registrations in Italy fell 8.3 percent in November despite a 12 percent rise in sales to private buyers.

Last month, 138,405 vehicles were registered, according to data from Italy's transport ministry.

There were 21 selling days, one more than in November 2019. According to industry association UNRAE, sales would have declined 13 percent without the additional day.

Sales to private customers increased 12 percent to 92,011, according to market researcher Dataforce as the partial lockdown introduced by the Italian government to slow a second wave of COVID-19 infections allowed dealer showrooms to remain open.

Sales to short-term rental companies fell by 26 percent, while registrations by long-term rental companies declined by 18 percent. Business sales dropped by 13 percent.

Self-registrations by automakers were down 69 percent and dealer registrations fell 53 percent, Dataforce said.

Thanks to a government incentive program and the introduction of new models, sales of full-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles jumped 375 percent to 9,750 and a record 7 percent market share.

Full-electric vehicles had a 3.4 percent share in November, compared with 0.7 percent in the same month of 2019.

The Volkswagen e-Up minicar was the country's best-selling full-electric vehicle last month, with a volume of 657 units, followed by the Smart ForTwo minicar and the Renault Zoe small hatchback. The Fiat New 500 EV minicar was fourth in the ranking with 513 registrations.

Plug-in hybrids had a 3.5 percent share, compared with a 0.6 percent share in 2019. The Jeep Compass compact SUV was the best seller with 923 units, followed by the Renault Captur small crossover and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

Full and mild hybrids had a 23.1 percent market share, compared with a 6.9 percent share in 2019.Gasoline car sales fell by 37 percent in November for a 31.1 percent market share, while diesel sales were down 28 percent to a market share of 28.9 percent.

The Italian government introduced a stimulus program to support car sales that started Aug. 1.

The program provided 3,500 euros ($4,125) for buyers who scrap cars that are at least 10 years old and buy a new vehicle of up to 40,000 euros in price with CO2 emissions of no more than 110 grams per kilometer.

Money to finance incentives for vehicles in the 61-110 g/km emissions brackets has been exhausted, the Ministry of development said on its website.

Winners and losers

Among Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands, Fiat registrations were down 2 percent in November. Jeep sales grew 18 percent, helped by the introduction of plug-in hybrid versions of the Renegade and Compass small SUVs.

Alfa Romeo sales declined 2.6 percent and Lancia's volume was down 2.4 percent.

Within the Volkswagen Group brands, Skoda sales increased by 8.5 percent, while Seat saw a 2.4 percent decline. VW brand sales fell by 15 percent.

The Citroen brand led PSA Group sales with an 8.3 percent increase, while Peugeot suffered a 1.7 percent decline, DS lost 25 percent and Opel sales were down 14 percent.

Renault brand sales grew by 9.5 percent and Dacia sales were up 5 percent.

Ford sales fell 17 percent.

Among Asian brands, Toyota sales were down 0.2 percent, while Nissan declined by 2.6 percent. Subaru dropped by 33 percent and Mazda by 39 percent. Suzuki sales rose by 53 percent.

Hyundai volume fell by 44 percent, while sibling brand Kia posted a 29 percent decline.

Among German premium brands, BMW was up 2.5 percent and Audi registrations declined by 0.1 percent. Mercedes-Benz sales dropped 22 percent.

Total registrations in Italy through November are down 29 percent to 1.26 million.