Italy October 2012: Fiat Panda above 10% for 1st time since 1989

Fiat Panda

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 50 best-selling models: click on title to see! *

The new car market in Italy is down 12% year-on-year in October to 117,840 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,214,405 units, down 20% on 2011. And it’s a very eventful month indeed for the Italian models ranking. The Fiat Panda manages to pass the almighty 10% market share milestone potentially for the first time for the Panda nameplate since 1989. It’s a level the previous generation Panda never managed to reach, its best monthly share being 8.8% in April and May 2009. At 12,185 sales and 10.3% it delivers its 2nd best volume in the last 12 months after last May and the highest share of any model in Italy since December 2007 when the Fiat Punto hit 10.5%.

And as the Fiat Panda hits record highs, the Fiat Punto is at record lows with 5,496 units and 4.7%. This is the nameplate’s 2nd lowest ever market share in the country after the 4.6% it hit last August, and only the third time in the nameplate’s 19 year history that it falls below 5% share with September 2008 (4.7%). In October twice as many new Pandas found a buyer as Puntos for the first time ever in Italy.

Peugeot 208. Picture by Quattroruote.it

Other big event: the Peugeot 208 breaks into the Italian Top 5 for the first time at #5 with 3,683 units and 3.1%, only one below the Fiat 500! The last time a new nameplate broke into the Top 5 in Italy was in December 2009 when the… Peugeot 207 ranked #5 after 45 months of presence in Italy, while the 208 has done it after just 7 months. Note also that the Peugeot 207 never managed to pass the 3% market share threshold in Italy, with its best share being 2.7% in July 2009. So yes, we can already say that the Peugeot 208 is more successful than the 207 in Italy.

Nissan Qashqai

At #10 with 2,358 sales and 2%, the Nissan Qashqai is back within the Italian Top 10 for the first time since July 2011 and the 8th time overall. The Qashqai’s bests in Italy are still #7, 3,448 sales and 2.2% in January 2009. Other great performers this month include the Mercedes B-Class up to #17, the Nissan Juke up 16 spots to a record #18, the Toyota Aygo up 11 to #21, the BMW 3 Series up 8 to #23, the Citroen C3 Picasso up to a best-ever #25, the Audi Q3 up 24 to #26 and the Dacia Sandero up to #34. Notice also the Fiat 500L down 24 to #49.

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Previous month: Italy September 2012: Fiat 500L up to #25

One year ago: Italy October 2011: Lancia Ypsilon continues to shine

Full October 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.