Italy July 2023: Dacia lodges 2nd ever podium finish, Jeep Avenger up to #11

The Jeep Avenger is knocking on the Italian Top 10’s door again.

The Italian new car market progresses 8.8% year-on-year in July to 119,207 registrations, however this is down -22.3% on pre-pandemic July 2019. Over the first seven months of the year, sales are up 21% to 960,765 but down -22.3% again on the same period in 2019. Private sales follow the market at +8.9% year-on-year in July to 68,230 units and an unchanged 56.3% share, self registrations soar 51.6% to 14,397 and 11.9% share vs. 8.5% a year ago, long term leases lift 19.5% to 28,490 and 23.5% share vs. 21.4% in July 2022 and short term rentals implode -68.9% to 2,603 and 2.1% share vs. 7.5%. Over the January to July period, private sales are up 10% to 525,089 and 53.9% share vs. 59.4% over the same period in 2022, self registrations improve 28.1% to 88,604 and 9.1% share vs. 8.6%, long term leases skyrocket 44.8% to 248,936 and 25.6% share vs. 21.4% and short term rentals gain 42.8% to 55,441 and 5.7% share vs. 4.8%. 

As for alimentation type, petrol edges up 4.3% to 34,634 and 28.6% share vs. 29.8% a year ago, diesel drops -5.2% to 21,789 and 18% share vs. 20.7% in July 2022, LPG rises 35% to 11,845 and 9.8% share vs. 7.9%, HEV is up 17.3% to 43,227 and 35.7% share vs. 33.1%, that includes 9,324 full hybrids (-14.2%) and 33,993 mild hybrids (+30.3%). PHEV is up 3.9% to 5,337 and BEV is up 14.9% to 4,158 and 3.4% share vs. 3.3% last year. So far this year, petrol is up 21.3% to 272,551 and 28% share vs. 27.9% over the same period a year ago, diesel is actually up 13.2% to 187,343 and 19.2% share vs. 20.6%, LPG is up 26.2% to 86,636 and 8.9% share vs. 8.5%, HEV soars 29.3% to 343,955 and 35.3% share vs. 33.1% in 2022, that includes 90,690 full hybrids (+27.4%) and 253,265 mild hybrids (+30%). PHEV edges up 6.2% to 45,104 and BEV gains 28.8% to 36,988 and 3.8% share vs. 3.6% a year ago.

The Dacia Sandero consolidates its 2nd place year-to-date.

Over in the brands ranking, after falling to its lowest share ever twice in a row (9.8% in May and 9.4% in June), Fiat (-6.3%) stays in negative but climbs back up to 12% of its home market vs. 11.2% year-to-date. Volkswagen (-4.4%) also goes against the market with a year-on-year drop at #2. Dacia (+37.9%) scores the largest gain in the Top 8 and snatches its second ever podium finish after September 2021 when it also ranked #3. Audi (+27.6%) is also in excellent shape at #4 but Renault (-4.2%), Ford (+1.4%) and Peugeot (+5.2%) are all shy. Jeep (+32.5%) and BMW (+63.1%) both stun whereas Toyota (-50.8%) implodes. Below, Suzuki (+127.1%), DR Motor (+63%), MG (+375.5%), Cupra (+80.8%), Mazda (+130.5%) and Tesla (+1191.9%) stand out. 

Model-wise, the Fiat Panda (+24.6%) rallies back up to 7.5% share to cement its YTD leadership, and is followed like last month by the Dacia Sandero (+36.5%) and Lancia Ypsilon (+8.2%). The Duster (+47.6%) makes it two Dacias in the Italian Top 4 this month. In contrast, the VW T-Roc (-15.3%), Citroen C3 (-23.7%), Fiat 500 (-33.7%) and Renault Captur (-14.4%) all skid in the remainder of the Top 10. Only the Ford Puma (+24.4%) beats the market. Further down the charts, notice the Jeep Avenger up to a record #11, the Peugeot 2008 up 105.6%, MG ZS up 336.5%, Hyundai i20 up 104.4% and the BMW X1 up 610.7%.

Previous month: Italy June 2023: Fiat at lowest ever share again, MG ZS cracks Top 10

One year ago: Italy July 2022: Toyota, Citroen impress, VW T-Roc on podium in stabilised market (-0.8%)

Full July 2023 Top 45 All brands and Top 50 models below.