Italy June 2015: Citroen C4 Cactus in Top 30

The Citroen C4 Cactus breaks into the Italian Top 30 for the first time in June.

* UPDATED with actuals for the Top 45 All-brands and Top 50 models *

The Italian market posts a 13th consecutive month of year-on-year gains in June and the 6th month in a row of double-digit gains at +14% to 146.682 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 872.951 units, up 15% on 2014. However there are a couple of signs that this period of strong growth may soon be coming to an end: while private sales surge 27% due to particularly aggressive promotions by manufacturers in June, rental sales are down 1% with short-term rentals down 13% and company sales down 7%, showing the market has exhausted the need for new cars. To see prolonged growth, the government will need to both boost company sales by changing the tax structure and help maintain dynamic private sales with incentives. In the brands ranking, Fiat (20.7%), Volkswagen (7.7%) and Ford (7.1%) are faithful to their year-to-date placing, Opel overtakes Renault to #4, Lancia gains 22% at #8, Nissan is up 23%, Kia up 35%, Smart up 66%, Land Rover up 72% and Jeep up 310%.

The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is up to #42.

Model-wise, the Top 3 best-sellers all frankly outpace the market, signalling a slight consolidation of the market: the Fiat Panda is up 21% to 7.1% share, the Fiat Punto up 18% to 3.9% and the Lancia Ypsilon up 36% to 3.8%. With the Fiat 500L at #4 (-3%) and the 500 at #5 (-29%), the Top 5 is 100% Italian as it is year-to-date. The Ford Fiesta is the best-selling foreigner at #6 while the Toyota Yaris (+31%) and VW Polo (+54%) also deliver spectacular gains. The Fiat 500X remains outside the Top 10 – just – at #11, its platform twin the Jeep Renegade is back up two spots to #17 and the Dacia Duster (+20%), Renault Captur (+27%), Opel Mokka (+41%) and Kia Sportage (+46%) all confirm the fast-growing appetite of Italian consumers for small SUVs.

Ford Ecosport

A handful of other nameplates also make themselves noticed this month in Italy: just as the all-new Giulia was revealed worldwide along with (some say) extravagant sales volume goals, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta gains a splendid 34% to rank #16, the Audi A3 is up a brilliant 33% to #20, the Peugeot 308 up 83% to #22 thanks to the new generation now in full throttle, the Ford Focus is up 57% and the Ford Ecosport is up 5-fold to #31 and 1.231 sales, Italy being the only large European market where the Ecosport is starting to truly make its mark, and the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer up 28 to #42. Finally, the Citroen C4 Cactus is up 32 spots on May to break it ranking record in Italy this month at #29.

Previous post: Italy May 2015: Now available with Top 175 best-selling models

Previous month: Italy May 2015: Fiat Punto up 30%, Fiat 500X recedes outside Top 10

One year ago: Italy June 2014: Fiat Nuova 500 up to #2 for only the 2nd time ever

Full June 2015 Top 45 All-brands and Top 50 models below.