Italy May 2011: Fiat Panda dominates again

Fiat Panda

The Italian car market is back in positive this month at +3% year-on-year and 171,077 units but is still down 15% year-to-date at 846,988.

The Fiat Panda is #1 again with 12,065 sales and 7.1%. It is the 12th time this generation of Panda leads Italian sales, all in the last 3 years – the first time was in June 08. The Fiat Punto is #2 at 6.8% but stays on top year-to-date at 59,619 sales and 7%.

The Fiat 500 is strong at #3 with 4.4%, ahead of the Ford Fiesta and VW Golf. The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is in the Top 10 for the 5th month in a row, the Dacia Duster reaches a best-ever 23rd place and the Peugeot 508 breaks into the Top 50. The Fiat Freemont appears in the ranking for the first time with 486 sales.

One of Italy’s particularities is the very high propensity of station wagons, a category in sharp decline in the rest of Europe to the benefit of MPVs, but very healthy here (+14% this month).

Opel Astra Sports Tourer

The Opel Astra dominates the category in May with 2,273 sales and a solid 70% Station Wagon split (70% of Opel Astras sold in Italy this month were SW). It is also #1 year-to-date at 9,100 units (59%). The VW Passat is #2 in May with an incredible 88% SW split, ahead of the Renault Megane (63%) and Audi A4 (85%).

Peugeot 508 SW

The Ford Focus, best selling Station Wagon in Italy for 5 consecutive years between 2005 and 2010, is down to 5th but should climb back the ranking soon with the new gen. The Peugeot 508 makes its first appearance in the SW Top 10 at #7 this month with a 70% SW split.

Don’t forget to check out 25 years of Italian models ranking history here!

Full Top 50 and Station Wagon Top 10 Ranking Tables below.