Italy July 2016: Hatchback lifts Fiat Tipo to 7th place

Fiat Tipo. Picture courtesy quattroruote.it

* Now updated with the Top 45 All-brands and Top 180 models – see title *

The June 2016 and H1 2016 posts have now been updated with the Top 180 models

New car sales in Italy slow down their growth in July to just +3% at 137.367 registrations, but the year-to-date total is still up by a very comfortable 17% to 1.189.161. Worryingly, July sales detail display the first year-on-year decline for price sales in 2016 at -6% to 86.451 for a 62.9% share, a 6 points drop vs. a year ago. Short-term rental sales on the other hand are up a whopping 58%, and with long-term rentals (aka leases) up 14%, overall rental sales are up 22% to 21.856 units or 15.9% share. Another red flag that consumer confidence may be about to dip is the first decline of the year for the used car market, down 6% to 382.689 transfers in July, with a year-to-date market up 5.5% to 2.838.956.

Renault is up 16% and the Clio is still the best-selling foreigner in Italy.

Brand-wise, Fiat remains the uncontested leader, evolving roughly like the market at +5% to 29.290 sales and 21.5% share, distancing Volkswagen (-7%), Ford (+4%), Renault (+16%), Opel (-13%) and Peugeot (-8%), an order identical to both the 2016 year-to-date and Full Year 2015 rankings. The three German luxury premium carmakers all grow faster than the market, with Audi up 8% (#8), Mercedes up 20% (#7) and BMW up 24% (#9). Other strong performers in Italy in July include Jeep/Dodge (+19%), Mini (+24%), Land Rover (+28%), Mazda (+35%), SsangYong (+65%), Honda (+93%), Jaguar (+170%) and Infiniti (+775%).

Mercedes sales are up 20% year-on-year in July in Italy. 

The Fiat Panda is still and by far the best-selling nameplate at home in Italy but at -2% to 10.990 sales it posts its first year-on-year decline since August 2015, also putting an end to 7 consecutive months of double-digit gains. The Lancia Ypsilon is up 1% to #2, the Fiat Punto is down 22% year-on-year but up two spots on June to #3, the Renault Clio is up 5% to remain at #4 and the Fiat 500L is up 20% to #5. Now that the hatchback variant is now available in dealerships across the country, the Fiat Tipo shoots up 10 spots on last month to break into the Top 10 for the first time (for this generation) at #7 with 3.161 sales and 2.3% share, taking the lead of its segment above the VW Golf (#10).

The Maserati Levante has landed at home in Italy.

Further down, notice also the Jeep Renegade up 33% to #14, the Dacia Sandero surging 78% to #16, the Hyundai Tucson up to #22, Ford Ecosport up 62% to #27, the BMW X1 up 942% to #39 and the Toyota RAV4 up 101% to #54. Among recent launches, the Mercedes GLC is up 15 ranks on June to #58, the Alfa Romeo Giulia is down 25 to #85, the Mercedes GLE up 34 to #106, the Citroen C-Elysee soars to #107 (it is already very popular in Sardinia as you can discover in our latest Photo Report) and the Jaguar F-Pace is up 8 to #108, already selling at 3 times the rate of the next best-selling Jaguar in Italy (the XE). Finally, we welcome the Maserati Levante and Seat Ateca within the Italian Top 180 this month, with the Volvo S90 and Tesla Model S not far behind.

Previous post: Italy First Half 2016: Fiat tightens grip on home market up 19%

Previous month: Italy June 2016: Renault up 58% to keep Volkswagen at bay

One year ago: Italy July 2015: Fiat 500X up to #7, best-seller in the 500 family

Full July 2016 Top 45 All-brands and Top 180 models below.