Italy April 2024: Sales back in positive at +7.5%, BEVs off -19.6%, Citroen C3, Toyota Yaris shine

Citroen C3 sales are up 348% year-on-year in April. Next generation pictured.

New car sales in Italy are back into positive territory in April at +7.5% year-on-year to 135,353 units. The year-to-date tally is up 6.1% to 586,665 but down -17.7% over the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. Private sales outrun the market at +13.9% to 69,700 and 50.9% share vs. 48.1% in April 2023 and are up 8.4% YTD to 324,532 and 54.6% share vs. 53.4% over the first four months of 2023. Self registrations are up 39% to 16,249 for the month and up 20.8% YTD to 60,300, long term leases disappoint at -15.8% to 28,679 in April and off -15% YTD to 123,981. Short term rentals edge past the market at +9% to 14,893 and shoot up 58.2% YTD to 53,025 and 8.9% share vs. 6% a year ago. Finally company sales gain 10.1% to 7,399 in April and 3.2% YTD to 32,508.

As for sales by propulsion, petrol is up 16.2% in April to 43,229 and 31.6% share vs. 29.2% a year ago and up 19.7% YTD to 184,856 and 31.1% vs. 27.6% in 2023. Diesel drops -21.8% to 19,709 and -18.7% YTD to 89,380. LPG is up 10.3% to 11,635 and up 7.5% YTD to 53,928. HEV sales progress by 23% year-on-year this month to 54,438 and 39.7% share vs. 34.7% a year ago. This includes 14,673 full hybrids (+39.2%) and 39,765 mild hybrids (+17.9%). YTD, HEVs are up 15.3% to 229,536 and 38.6% share vs. 35.5% including 62,798 full hybrids (+20.6%) and 166,738 mild hybrids (+13.5%). Next we witness the particularly poor results of rechargeable vehicles. PHEVs freefall -26.1% to 4,482 for the month and -24.6% YTD to 18,987 while BEVs sink -19.6% to 3,208 and 2.3% share vs. 3.1% a year ago and are off -18.8% YTD to 16,609 and 2.8% share vs. 3.7% in 2023.

The top 2 manufacturers miss out on the positive market with negative year-on-year results. Flat is down -1% to 11.2% share, identical to its YTD level while Volkswagen (-11.7%) is in a rut, but at 7.6% of the market it is above its YTD share of 7.3%. Toyota (+65.6%) shoots up year-on-year and manages to stay #2 year-to-date above Volkswagen. Dacia (+21.1%) remains at a splendid 4th place while Renault (+15.1%) climbs one spot on March to #5. Citroen (+96.3%) manages the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10 at #9 with BMW (+22.5%) also in excellent shape at #7. Below, Honda (+124.4%), Land Rover (+86.9%), Nissan (+69.4%), Seat (+62.3%), Cupra (+61.3%) and Porsche (+45%) shine in the remainder of the Top 30 while further down Mitsubishi (+1181.4%) benefits from the launch of the badge-engineered ASX and Colt. Tesla is down -53.4%.

Model-wise, strikingly the entire Top 9 bar the Lancia Ypsilon (+1.9%) outruns the market with double-digit gains. The Fiat Panda (+39.6%) sells double the #2, the Dacia Sandero (+46.8%) while the Citroen C3 (+348%) posts a surreal lift and ensures the Top 4 is unchanged on March. The reason behind the C3’s success is the large amount of registrations of the outgoing generation which doesn’t meet upcoming new GSR2 EU safety norms. The Toyota Yaris (+136%) is equally impressive at #5. The Renault Clio (+56.2%) is up three spots on March to #7, passing its archenemy the Peugeot 208 (+25.6%). The MG ZS (+50.3%) breaks into the Top 10 for the 2nd time at #9 (previous was #7 last December). The Ford Puma (+12%) is also solid at #6. Below, the Toyota Aygo X (+256.6%), DR 5.0 (+91.2%), Mercedes GLA (+83.3%), Hyundai i20 (+76.3%) and Nissan Qashqai (+76.3%) stand out.

Previous month: Italy March 2024: Market down -3.7%, BEVs off -34.5%

One year ago: Italy April 2023: Alfa Romeo Tonale, MG ZS and Jeep Avenger highlight market up 29.2%

Full April 2024 Top 50 brands and models below.