Italy 1977-1978: Fiat 127 still on top, Fiat Ritmo lands
Fiat 127 Sport
* See the Top 20 brands and most produced models by clicking on the title! *
Not much official models sales data available for this period in Italy, only that the Fiat 127 continues to lead the sales charts thanks to 237,600 sales, ahead of the Fiat 126 at 174,000 and the Fiat 128 at 93,000. However thanks to the UNRAE team, brands sales and models production data is available.
Alfa Romeo Alfasud
Notice the Fiat 131 up to #2 most produced in 1978 with 204,962 units, the Fiat Ritmo landing directly at #5 with 108,411 units and the Alfa Romeo Alfasud above 100,000 units that same year. Brand-wise, thanks to the success of the Renault 5, Renault stays very strong at 8% share in 1976, 1977 and 1978, peaking at 97,004 sales in 1978 which was at the time the highest annual volume ever for any foreign brand in Italy.
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Full Year 1977 and 1978 Top 20 brands and most produced models below.
Italy 1977 – most produced models:
| Pos | Model | Production | % | 1976 |
| 1 | Fiat 127 | 333,795 | 23.2% | 1 |
| 2 | Fiat 128 | 237,491 | 16.5% | 2 |
| 3 | Fiat 126 | 205,152 | 14.2% | 4 |
| 4 | Fiat 131 | 166,871 | 11.6% | 3 |
| 5 | Alfa Romeo Alfasud | 98,293 | 6.8% | 5 |
| 6 | Alfa Romeo Alfetta | 73,573 | 5.1% | 7 |
| 7 | Fiat 132 | 72,678 | 5.0% | 9 |
| 8 | Autobianchi A112 | 69,974 | 4.9% | 6 |
| 9 | Lancia Beta | 56,463 | 3.9% | 8 |
| 10 | Innocenti Mini | 38,120 | 2.6% | n/a |
| 11 | Fiat X1/9 | 18,450 | 1.3% | 11 |
| 12 | Fiat 124 | 14,008 | 1.0% | 12 |
| 13 | Alfa Romeo Giulia | 11,688 | 0.8% | 10 |
| 14 | Lancia Coupe | 8,469 | 0.6% | n/a |
| 15 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 7,390 | 0.5% | n/a |
| 16 | Alfa Romeo 1300 | 7,281 | 0.5% | n/a |
| 17 | Fiat 900 | 6,243 | 0.4% | 18 |
| 18 | Lancia Gamma | 4,012 | 0.3% | 19 |
| 19 | Alfa Romeo 2000 | 3,566 | 0.2% | 15 |
| 20 | Autobianchi Bianchina | 2,730 | 0.2% | 13 |
Italy 1977 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | Sales | % | 1976 |
| 1 | Fiat | 594,429 | 48.8% | 1 |
| 2 | Renault | 97,004 | 8.0% | 2 |
| 3 | Alfa Romeo | 80,304 | 6.6% | 3 |
| 4 | Ford | 70,591 | 5.8% | 8 |
| 5 | Citroen | 66,014 | 5.4% | 5 |
| 6 | Autobianchi | 54,635 | 4.5% | 6 |
| 7 | Simca | 52,714 | 4.3% | 4 |
| 8 | Opel | 40,379 | 3.3% | 7 |
| 9 | VW | 38,251 | 3.1% | 9 |
| 10 | Lancia | 25,601 | 2.1% | 10 |
| 11 | Peugeot | 24,921 | 2.0% | 11 |
| 12 | Nuova Innocenti | 20,824 | 1.7% | 12 |
| 13 | BMW | 15,761 | 1.3% | 13 |
| 14 | Mercedes | 11,869 | 1.0% | 14 |
| 15 | Volvo | 3,273 | 0.3% | 16 |
| 16 | Audi | 3,197 | 0.3% | 15 |
| 17 | Austin | 2,887 | 0.2% | n/a |
| 18 | Skoda | 2,578 | 0.2% | 17 |
| 19 | Zaz | 2,035 | 0.2% | n/a |
| 20 | Vauxhall-Bedford | 1,875 | 0.2% | 20 |
Italy 1978 – most produced models:
| Pos | Model | Production | % | 1977 |
| 1 | Fiat 127 | 361,286 | 23.9% | 1 |
| 2 | Fiat 131 | 204,962 | 13.6% | 4 |
| 3 | Fiat 126 | 167,535 | 11.1% | 3 |
| 4 | Fiat 128 | 135,012 | 8.9% | 2 |
| 5 | Fiat Ritmo | 108,411 | 7.2% | – |
| 6 | Alfa Romeo Alfasud | 105,953 | 7.0% | 5 |
| 7 | Fiat 132 | 93,389 | 6.2% | 7 |
| 8 | Autobianchi A112 | 89,436 | 5.9% | 8 |
| 9 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 58,066 | 3.8% | 15 |
| 10 | Alfa Romeo Alfetta | 51,504 | 3.4% | 6 |
| 11 | Lancia Beta | 42,800 | 2.8% | 9 |
| 12 | Innocenti Mini | 40,719 | 2.7% | 10 |
| 13 | Fiat X1/9 | 19,240 | 1.3% | 11 |
| 14 | Fiat 124 | 16,079 | 1.1% | 12 |
| 15 | Lancia Gamma | 6,399 | 0.4% | 18 |
| 16 | Fiat 900 | 4,448 | 0.3% | 17 |
| 17 | Lancia Coupe | 3,263 | 0.2% | 14 |
| 18 | Fiat Campagnola | 2,844 | 0.2% | 21 |
Italy 1978 brands:
| Pos | Brand | Sales | % | 1977 |
| 1 | Fiat | 549,914 | 46.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Renault | 96,043 | 8.0% | 2 |
| 3 | Alfa Romeo | 87,037 | 7.3% | 3 |
| 4 | Citroen | 65,014 | 5.4% | 5 |
| 5 | Ford | 64,064 | 5.4% | 4 |
| 6 | Autobianchi | 61,767 | 5.2% | 6 |
| 7 | Opel | 48,983 | 4.1% | 8 |
| 8 | Simca | 47,462 | 4.0% | 7 |
| 9 | VW | 41,613 | 3.5% | 9 |
| 10 | Nuova Innocenti | 27,984 | 2.3% | 12 |
| 11 | Peugeot | 24,010 | 2.0% | 11 |
| 12 | Lancia | 22,000 | 1.8% | 10 |
| 13 | BMW | 17,930 | 1.5% | 13 |
| 14 | Mercedes | 9,951 | 0.8% | 14 |
| 15 | Volvo | 4,049 | 0.3% | 15 |
| 16 | Austin | 3,101 | 0.3% | 17 |
| 17 | Seat | 3,010 | 0.3% | 21 |
| 18 | Audi | 3,005 | 0.3% | 16 |
| 19 | Skoda | 2,744 | 0.2% | 18 |
| 20 | Vauxhall-Bedford | 2,430 | 0.2% | 20 |
Source: ANFIA, many thanks to the UNRAE team for opening up your archives!
This Post Has 4 Comments
My pleasure Matt.
I just read in a Italian magazine called Quattroruote from January 1978.
In the seventies and eighties Italians cars were quite popular all over the world. Alfa romeo had assembly plants in South Africa were assembled the 1750/2000 berlina, Giulia super, Giulia Coupé bertone, Alfasud, called Alfa Export there, Alfetta berlina and Giulietta. In malasya Alfa had an assembly plant too with 3 models, the giulia super, Alfasud hatch and Alfetta. Lancia assembled the Beta Coupé and HPE in South Africa, Spain and Thailand in small numbers and Fiat had assembly and production plants in South Africa, Egypt, Thailand, Tanzania, Malasya, Argentina, Brazil, Lybia, Morocco…
Great thanks Miguel.
Any more data from that period in Italy? I am updating my Historical posts for Italy so anything you have at all, even if it’s a random monthly ranking or not a year-end ranking, please send it my way!!!
Thank you very much for your continued support.
Matt
I had the information that in 1977 the Fiat 127 was the best selling car in Italy followed by the Fiat 128, Fiat 131 Mirafiori, Fiat 126, Alfa Romeo Alfasud, Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Fiat 132, Autobianchi A112, Ford Fiesta MKI and Innocenti Mini Mille.
Hi Miguel,
Thank you very much for this info! I will write a post about it shortly. Could you let me know what the source of the data is please?
Thank you
Matt