Italy 1983: The start of the Fiat Uno dynasty
Fiat Uno
* See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Andrea *
1983 is a very important year for Italian car sales as it marks the start of the 11 year domination of the Fiat Uno. Launched in January, the Uno had the whole year to gear up and finishes 1983 in 1st position with 245,000 sales and 15.5% market share, with December at 18.3%. This thundering arrival has a profound impact on the country’s models ranking and in a market down 6% (1,582,170 sales) 7 cars out of 15 see their sales drop.
Autobianchi A112
It is the case for the Fiat Ritmo, down 18% year-on-year but still #2 at 167,000 units and 10.6%, the Fiat Panda at -16% with 157,000 sales but still #3 and obviously for the Fiat 127 replaced by the Uno, down 72% and 3 spots on 1982 to #4 at 60,900 units. The Autobianchi A112 is up two spots to #5 with 59,250 sales and 3.7%.
The VW Golf passes the Renault 5 to become the best-selling foreign car in Italy in spite of a 20% drop year-on-year, at #6 and 3.2%, ahead of the Renault 9 (3.1%) and 5 (3%). The Lancia Prisma lands directly in the Top 10 at #9 with 2.7%.
Previous year: Italy 1982: Fiat 127, Ritmo and Panda dominate
Next year: Italy 1984: Fiat Uno and Regata shine
Full Year and December 1983 Top 15 Ranking Tables below.
Italy Full Year 1983:
| Pos | Model | 1983 | % | Dec-83 | % | Pos | 83/82 | 1982 |
| 1 | Fiat Uno | 245,000 | 15.5% | 18,750 | 18.3% | 1 | new | - |
| 2 | Fiat Ritmo | 167,000 | 10.6% | 10,450 | 10.2% | 2 | -18% | 2 |
| 3 | Fiat Panda | 157,000 | 9.9% | 8,550 | 8.3% | 4 | -16% | 3 |
| 4 | Fiat 127 | 60,900 | 3.8% | 2,600 | 2.5% | 8 | -72% | 1 |
| 5 | Autobianchi A112 | 59,250 | 3.7% | 2,250 | 2.2% | 10 | -4% | 7 |
| 6 | VW Golf | 51,000 | 3.2% | 2,700 | 2.6% | 7 | -20% | 6 |
| 7 | Renault 9 | 49,300 | 3.1% | 1,800 | 1.7% | 12 | 3% | 8 |
| 8 | Renault 5 | 47,700 | 3.0% | 1,950 | 1.9% | 11 | -26% | 5 |
| 9 | Lancia Prisma | 42,050 | 2.7% | 4,000 | 3.9% | 5 | - | - |
| 10 | Fiat 126 | 33,650 | 2.1% | - | - | - | -18% | 10 |
| 11 | Ford Fiesta | 33,100 | 2.1% | 2,950 | 2.9% | 6 | - | - |
| 12 | Renault 4 | 32,200 | 2.0% | 1,650 | 1.6% | 13 | - | - |
| 13 | Fiat Regata | 31,300 | 2.0% | 9,800 | 9.5% | 3 | new | - |
| 14 | Fiat 131 | 29,450 | 1.9% | - | - | - | -58% | 4 |
| 15 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 29,350 | 1.9% | 1,500 | 1.5% | 14 | - | - |
Source: Quattroruotte, many thanks to Andrea for sharing the data!
Hi matt,
This line: and obviously for the Fiat 126 replaced by the Uno, down 72% and 3 spots on 1982 to #4 at 60,900 units.
Obviously this should be the 127, the 126 is a much smaller car (at number 10).