Italy January 2017: Fiat 500 up to 2nd place, Toyota and Citroen shine

February 11, 2017
Matt Gasnier

The Fiat 500 ranks #2 at home for only the third time in its decade-long career.

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for the Top 45 All-brands and Top 180 models – see title *

The December 2016 and Full Year 2016 articles have now been updated with Top 230 models.

Helped by two extra selling days compared to January 2016, new car sales in Italy jump up 10% to 171.556 registrations, the highest score for the month since 2010 and the 32nd consecutive month of year-on-year gains. Adjusted for the same number of selling days, the market is in fact down 0.6%. Private sales are up just 4.7% to 108.685 for a 62.9% share vs. 65.9% a year ago, rental sales are in line with the market at +9.4% to 35.335 (short-term rentals -10.8%, long-term +24.5%) but it’s business sales, spruced up by tax breaks, that pull the Italian market up this month at +33.2% to 28.647, going from 13.6% share in January 2016 to 16.6% now. Sedans and hatchbacks surprisingly outpace the market with a 11.8% gain to 96.545 sales but once again crossovers are the most dynamic with a 19.2% surge to 34.885 units and 20.2% share vs. 18.6% a year ago.

The Fiat Tipo is the best-selling station wagon in Italy.

Brand-wise, the leading trio outpaces the overall market and add up to 36.9% share: Fiat is up 15% to 21.8%, Volkswagen up 12% to 7.7% and Ford up 14% to 7.4%. Renault has “period start fatigue”: down to #4 with 5.8% share, ahead of Peugeot (+17%) and Opel (+14%). Toyota (+30%) and Citroen (+26%) post the largest gains in the Top 10 while Audi (-1%) remains the luxury king at #10 above BMW at #12 (+13%) and Mercedes at #15 (-9%). Dacia soars 25% to a splendid 11th place, Alfa Romeo is up 28%, Suzuki up 35%, Honda up 61%, Jaguar up 110% and Maserati up 160% thanks to the Levante accounting for 72% of the brand’s January sales. Infiniti is up a whopping 560%, overtaking Lexus (+13%) for the third time ever after last May and July and while Lexus outsold Infiniti 5 to 1 in December…

The new model earns the Citroen C3 its first Top 10 ranking in four years.

In the models ranking, the Fiat Panda (+12%) further widens the gap with the next most popular nameplate in Italy, now selling 2.4 times more than the #2 model. That ranking is held by a reinvigorated Fiat 500 up 35%, and as strange as it sounds this is only the third time in a decade-long career that the Nuova 500 manages to rank #2 after September 2008 and June 2014. The Lancia Ypsilon (+4%) is knocked down to #3 above the Renault Clio (+22%). The Fiat Tipo (+235%) soars back up to 5th place, with its station wagon variant accounting for 35% of its January sales and by far the best-seller in its segment (1.591) ahead of the Peugeot 308 (993) and Audi A4 (823).

The Toyota C-HR breaks into the Italian Top 30.

The new generation boosts the Citroen C3 up 75%, allowing it to return inside the Top 10 for the first time in four years (January 2013). Further down, the VW Tiguan is up 349% to #16, the Dacia Sandero up 48% to #18, the Opel Mokka up 42% to #20 and the Peugeot 2008 is up 34% to #21. The big news in the Top 50 is the thunderous arrival of the Toyota C-HR at #29, already leading the hybrid sales charts (1.536) ahead of the Yaris (1.226), Auris (496), RAV4 (432) and fellow newcomer Suzuki Ignis (189). Two additional recent launches break into the Italian Top 50 for the very first time this month: the Audi Q2 at #46 (+24 spots on December) and the Ford Ka+ at #47 (+19). Other great January performers include the BMW X1 up 44% to #38, the Ford Kuga up 45% to #33, Opel Astra up 53% to #35 and the Peugeot 3008 up 246% to #37 thanks to the new generation.

First Top 50 ranking in Italy for the Ford Ka+