Italy October 2018: Fiat Panda and Lancia Ypsilon soften fall, market down 8%

The Fiat Panda hits its highest share at home in 20 months.

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As it has been the case in all European Union markets we have covered so far for October, in Italy the post-WLTP hangover lingers at -8% to 147.753 registrations, pulling the year-to-date tally down 3.3% to 1.649.678. Private sales stand out with a 3.6% year-on-year gain to 96.484 and 65.3% share vs. 58% a year ago, whereas rental sales drop 16.6% to 24.880 and 16.8% share vs. 18.6% where short-term rentals are down 15.8% to 2.853, long-term leases down 19.8% to 18.392 and others up 3.2% to 3.635. Company sales are hit the hardest which is logical as this channel was over-used pre-WLTP at -29.7% to 26.389 and 17.9% share vs. 23.4%. In particular, self-registrations sink 36% to 18.327, again a logical evolution connected to the pre-WLTP rush.

The Lancia Ypsilon climbs back up to #2 overall for the first time in 2018.

Year-to-date, this time its rental sales that perform best, the only distribution channel in positive at +1.6% to 389.390 units or 23.6% share vs. 22.5% over the same period a year ago. Short-term rentals are down 9.1% to 123.279 but leases are up 4.3% to 231.132. Private sales almost match the market at -4% to 918.877 and 55.7% share vs. 56.1% while company sales dive 6.6% to 341.411. In terms of alimentation, diesel sales tumble down 27% to 65.055 units and 44% share but remain above petrol sales up 22.5% to 61.630. LPG is down 3.4% to 10.555 and hybrids gain 29.7% to 8.737. Year-to-date, diesel edges down 10.6% to 864.978 and 52.4% vs. 56.7% in 2017, petrol is up 4% to 566.191 and 34.3% vs. 31.9%, LPG is down 3.2% to 107.017 and hybrid is up 32.9% to 73.250. Segment-wise, only crossovers (+13.3%) are up, all other nine segments are down, with small (-56.1%) and compact MPVs (-57.5%) hit the hardest.

The Renault Clio is up to #2 year-to-date in Italy.

Fiat (-21%) is stuck in hell at home, recording a shattering 11th consecutive double-digit year-on-year decline, which leads to another weak 15.4% share. That’s Fiat’s second-lowest in history at home, below the 15% hit just last month. The two remaining carmakers on the podium are in positive: Volkswagen (+6%) is already out of post-WLTP hangover – something that isn’t true in the other EU market we’ve studied so far – and Ford (+4%) is strong in 3rd place. Only Jeep (+7%) and Toyota (+6%) manage to gain ground year-on-year in the Top 10 where Renault (-28%) crumbles, as do Infiniti (-87%), Tesla (-71%), Porsche (-67%), Alfa Romeo (-42%), Lexus (-28%), Audi (-20%), Hyundai (-18%), Seat (-14%) and Dacia (-13%). Great performers include Mahindra (+636%), DR Motor (+400%), Lamborghini (+300%), Mitsubishi (+155%), Ferrari (+106%), Jaguar (+101%), Volvo (+47%) and Suzuki (+21%).

The Lamborghini Urus lifts the brand up 4-fold in October.

Model-wise, the Fiat Panda (-6%) reassuringly posts its 2nd single-digit loss in the past 12 months (vs. 10 double-digit falls), reaching 8.5% share, its highest since February 2017. The Lancia Ypsilon (-0.4%) posts its best performance since August 2017 after freefalling 55% last August and 42% last February, reclaiming the 2nd spot at home for the first time in one year. The Toyota Yaris (+3%) is very strong once again at #3 vs. #11 YTD, the Renault Clio (+10%) is on the mend, snapping the #2 YTD spot off the Fiat 500X, the VW Polo (+65%) scores its first Top 5 finish in over two years (#4 in July 2016) and the Ford Ecosport (+59%) posts a second Top 10 finish in a row at #8 after a record #6 last month. The VW T-Roc is down 9 ranks on its record-breaking September (#4) but again outsells the Golf (-45%) back up 41 spots to #15.

Previous month: Italy September 2018: Yaris, T-Roc, Ecosport stun in market down 25.5%

One year ago: Italy October 2017: Citroen C3 hits highest ever ranking at #3

Full October 2018 Top 45 brands and Top 50 models below.