Italy August 2019: Dacia (+30.5%) places Duster #2 and Sandero #3, Smart Fortwo up to #5 in market down -3.5%

The Dacia Duster is up 50.1% to a record 2nd place overall in Italy.

Unlike Spain or France, Italy wasn’t much affected by pre-WLTP stock clearances a year ago, and as a result August 2019 sales are down a measured -3.5% to 89.353 units, very close to their YTD evolution at -3.3% to 1.330.749. Private sales fare a little worse at -5.6% to 49.575 and 55.5% share vs. 56.7% a year ago, whereas rental sales dive -19.9% to 14.270 and 16% vs. 19.2% in August 2018, with short-term rentals down -11.4% to 1.560, leases down -25.5% to 10.489 and others up 12.8% to 2.221. In fact it’s company sales that post a spectacular +12.8% uptick to 25.508 and 28.5% share vs. 24.1%. The year-to-date situation is very different, with private sale the only island of growth at +1% to 754.491 and 56.7% share vs. 54.3% over the same period in 2018, rental sales edging down a minuscule -0.1% to 343.244 and 25.8% vs. 25% including 123.723 short-term (+3.9%) and 193.248 leases (-2.2%) but company sales (-18.3%) implode to 233.014 and 17.5% share vs. 20.7% over 7 months 2018. Petrol registrations surge 45.2% in August to 39.123 and 27% YTD to 578.645 whereas diesel is down -34.5% to 34.053 this month and -24.9% to 555.598 so far in 2018. GPL is up 18% to 9.020, hybrids up 5.6% to 4.379 and EVs up 181.1% to 534.

The Smart Fortwo breaks into the Italian Top 5 for the first time in its 21-year career.

Brand-wise, Fiat (-8.1%) once again falls faster than its home market but sees its share bounce back up to 14.6%, its highest since last May. Volkswagen (+13.5%) impresses with a double-digit gain at #2 in contrast with Renault (-38.9%) paying the price of too much artificial activity in August 2018 when the Clio spectacularly took the overall lead. The Dacia craze continues in Italy: up 30.5% year-on-year, the low-cost brand scores a 6th consecutive double-digit gain and snaps the title of largest gainer in the Top 10 for the 6th month in a row. Stuck at a record 7th place for the past 4 months and a record 5% share for the past two, Dacia smashes both these records in August to leap up to #4 overall with 6.6% share. Only Opel (+1.9%) and Peugeot (+0.2%) also manage a gain in the Top 10 where Jeep (-27%) and Citroen (-12%) freefall while Toyota (-5.6%) and Ford (-6.7%) somewhat contain their fall. Outside the Top 10, Tesla (+352%), Smart (+296.8%), Lancia (+95.8%), Ferrari (+85.7%), Lamborghini (+83.3%), Land Rover (+74.9%), Lexus (+50.2%), Jaguar (+49.2%) and Audi (+28%) all post very impressive gains, but the winner among them all is DR Motor up 1138.2%, smashing all its records at #23 with 941 sales and 1.1% share, eclipsing the #31, 612 sales and 0.4% reached just last month.

First Top 50 finish for the DR Zero – a rebadged Chery QQ.

Over in the models ranking, below the Fiat Panda (+61.4%) faithful to its traditional pole position, Dacia spectacularly hijacks the Italian podium with the Duster (+50.1%) up 5 spots on July to a record 2nd place overall (previous best #3 last April) and the Sandero (+13%) up one rank on a record 4th place in July. This is the first time Dacia places both its star nameplates on the monthly podium of any of the Top 5 main European markets (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain). The previous Italian record was two Dacias in the Top 7 both in June and July 2019. The Lancia Ypsilon (+95.8%) is knocked down to #4 despite almost doubling its sales year-on-year. But the records don’t stop here: the Smart Fortwo (+310%) multiplies its August 2018 score by four, up 21 spots on July to land at #5, its first ever incursion in the Italian Top 5 and only third ever Top 10 finish after May 2012 (#10) and November 2013 (#10). At #8, the Ford Ecosport (+15%) also scores its third ever Top 10 month in Italy after last September (#6) and last October (#8). Finally the VW T-Roc (+84%) confirms it is the brand’s best-seller and extend its streak of consecutive Top 10 finishes to 8 months. The VW T-Cross is down 6 spots on July to #21 but still leads recent launches above the DR Zero cracking the Top 50 for the first time at #41 and the Toyota Corolla at #48.

Previous month: Italy July 2019: Fiat sinks to lowest-ever share for 5th time in 12 months at 13.1%, Dacia up 53.6%, Sandero up to highest ever #4

One year ago: Italy August 2018: Renault Clio first foreigner #1, Jeep Compass on podium

Full August 2019 Top 45 brands and Top 50 models below.