Photo Report: The cars of Ventimiglia, Northern Italy

August 30, 2015
Matt Gasnier

Lancia Ypsilon in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2015.

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I was lucky enough to do a quick drive across the French border into Ventimiglia in Italy, to check out what the car landscape had become there since the last update I shared with you two years go. At the time I was impressed by the amount of Fiat 500 roaming the streets. This year the outstanding element about the local car park is that… it hasn’t changed. It really seemed like all the cars I saw today were already present during my last visit two years ago. Simple explanation: the Italian new car market has been running on empty for a the most part of the past two years, with new car sales at their lowest level in 40 years.

Lancia Delta in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2015.

So the same observations I did two years ago are sill valid now. The only major difference would be an increased amount of Lancia Ypsilon, seemingly particularly successful in this part of the country and fighting the Fiat 500 for the title of most popular model in Ventimiglia. A reasonable amount of Lancia Delta are still present on the streets even though the nameplate’s sales have all but stopped nationwide. The current gen Fiat Panda is still surprisingly scarce despite its #1 national ranking, the Renault Captur is off to a great start and I spotted a couple of Jeep Renegade and new generation Citroen C1.

Fiat 500 and Lancia Ypsilon in Ventimiglia, Italy – August 2015.