Italy April 2021: Fiat 500 up 45.5% in market down -16.7% on two years ago

Fiat 500 sales are up 45.5% on April 2019.

New car sales in Italy are up 3261% year-on-year in April, reflecting the year-ago lockdown when only 4.295 cars were registered, but down -16.7% on two years ago to 146.270 units. The year-to-date tally is now up 68.6% year-on-year but remains down -16.5% on the same period in 2019 at 597.367. All evolutions from now on are compared to April 2019. Private sales drop just -8.1% to 87.137 units and 59.6% share vs. 54% two years ago, long term leases are down -6.6% to 25.609 and 17.5% share vs. 15.6% while short-term rentals implode -53% to 12.869 and 8.8% share vs. 15.6% two years ago and self registrations drop -27.5% to 13.020 and 8.9% share vs. 10.2%. So far in 2021, private sales are also down -8.1% to 378.226 and 63.3% share vs. 57.5% over the same period in 2019, long term leases edge down -2.6% to 98.170 and 16.4% share vs. 14.1%, short-term rentals skid -62.7% to 30.127 and 5% share vs. 11.3% and self-registrations drop -32.6% to 59.579 and 10% share vs. 12.3% in 2019.

Brand-wise, leader Fiat (-21.5%) endures the biggest fall in the Top 7 to 16% share, it is followed like last month by Volkswagen (-10.1%), Peugeot (-11.5%) both handling ok and Ford (-17.8%). Toyota (-1.1%) and Jeep (-2.7%) keep their falls slim while Citroen (-15.3%) loses more ground and Opel (-38.1%) craters. Audi (+7.1%) is the only Top 10 brand in positive, it is joined just outside the Top 10 by Mercedes (+7.3%) and BMW (+4.7%) with Lancia (-10.2%) also resisting somewhat. Other gainers further down the charts include DR Motor (+232.1%), Ferrari (+40%), Land Rover (+39%), Mazda (+38.9%), DS (+33.4%), Suzuki (+25.1%), Volvo (+12.9%), Skoda (+11.5%) and Mini (+7.2%).

Over in the models ranking, the Fiat Panda (-25.2%) easily retains the top spot but is relatively weak at 7% share. Note the mild hybrid variant (MHEV) accounts for a whopping 74.4% of the Panda’s April volume. The Fiat 500 soars 45.5% on April 2019 to remain in 2nd place for the second month running, with the MHEV variant representing 78.1% of its April volume and the BEV 18.5%. Note the 500 is the best-selling BEV in Italy both in April and year-to-date. The Lancia Ypsilon (-10.1%) climbs back onto the podium with its MHEV variant accounting for 88.5% of sales for the month. Below are three nameplates in frank positive vs. two years ago: the Jeep Renegade (+12.4%), Fiat 500X (+12.2%) and Toyota Yaris (+20.7%). The Ford Puma edges up one spot on March to #7 while the Opel Corsa (+0.4%) closes the Top 10 on a positive note.

Previous month: Italy March 2021: Market up 495.7% year-on-year but down -12.4% on two years ago

One year ago: Italy April 2020: Coronavirus freezes market down -97.5% to smallest April volume since 1948, Renault Zoe #2

Full April 2021 Top 43 All-brands and Top 50 models below.