Italy May 2024: Negative market, Fiat hits lowest ever share, Citroen C3 up to #2

Citroen C3 sales are up 140.5% year-on-year in May.

The Italian new car market hits the brakes in April at -6.6% year-on-year to 139,581 units, 10,000 less than in May 2023. The year-to-date tally remains in positive however at +3.4% to 726,311. Note this is still -20.2% below the first five months of pre-pandemic 2019. Worryingly, private sales (-10.8%) fall faster than the market to 72,352 units and 51.2% share vs. 53.5% a year ago. Self-registrations sure 39.1% to 17,703, long term leases skid -18.6% to 31,573 but short-term rentals gain 9.8% to 11,518. Company sales are down -5% to 8,043. Year-to-date, private sales are up 4.3% to 54% share vs. 53.5% over the same period in 2023, self-registrations are up 24.7%, long term leases down -15.7%, short term rentals up 46.7% and company sales up 1.4%.

In terms of alimentation, for May petrol is up 6.7% to 45,395 and 32.2% share vs. 28.1% in May 2023, diesel drops -31.1% to 20,393 and 14.4% share vs. 19.5% and LPG sinks -33.2% to 9,007. HEVs are up 7.7% to 56,640 and 40.1% share vs. 34.7% a year ago, including 16,004 full hybrids (+2.7%) and 40,636 mild hybrids (+9.8%). PHEVs tumble down -34.9% to 4,598 while BEVs fall -18.3% to just 5,070 units and 3.6% share vs. 4.1% in May 2023. Year-to-date, petrol is up 16.9% to 230.271 and 31.3% share vs. 27.7% over the first 5 months of 2023, diesel is down -21.3% to 109,803, LPG down -1.1% to 62,942, HEVs up 13.8% to 286,197 with full hybrids up 16.5% and mild hybrids up 12.8%, PHEVs are off -26.8% to 23,585 and BEVs dow -18.7% to 21,675 and 2.9% share vs. 3.8% last year.

Over in the brands ranking, Fiat (-11.8%) is in perdition again and hits rock bottom: its lowest ever share at home at 9.3%. Previous lowest was 9.4% less than a year ago in June 2023. In contrast Volkswagen (+3.6%) at 8.2% and Toyota (+4.4%) at 8% catch up. Renault (+20.6%) is in excellent shape at #4 with 5.9% share, as is Audi (+5.9%) up five spots on April to #5 overall. Jeep (-4.7%) is also up five ranks to #6, distancing Peugeot (-38.5%) in great difficulty. Citroen (+42.5%) lodges the largest gain in the Top 10 at #10 with BMW (+21.2%) also very dynamic. Below, Mitsubishi (+884.5%), Nissan (+36.4%), Land Rover (+25.6%) and MG (+22.3%) all impress.

Model-wise, the Fiat Panda (+12.3%) goes against the market with a double-digit year-on-year gain but is the only Fiat in the Top 22! Like in Spain, the Citroen C3 (+140.5%) is boosted by rushed sales of the outgoing generation that doesn’t comply with new European safety regulations. It is up to #2 for the month and #3 year-to-date. Awaiting the new generation, the Lancia Ypsilon (-18.7%) tumbles down but still manages a third place vs. #4 so far this year. The Jeep Avenger (+35.1%) rallies back up 7 ranks on last month to climb to #4, equally is record ranking in Italy also reached last October, November and January. The Toyota Yaris Cross (-3.9%) is back up 10 spots on April to #4, distancing the VW T-Roc (+6.8%) and Renault Clio (+62.7%). The Dacia Sandero (-41.2%) is hit hard at #8 but stays #2 year-to-date The MG ZS (+69.1%) sports a second consecutive Top 10 finish. The Audi Q3 (+72.6%) smashes its ranking record to #13, with the VW T-Cross (+63.9%) and Kia Sportage (+24.2%) also strong.

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

One year ago: Italy May 2023: Fiat down to lowest ever share, Jeep Avenger up to #12

Full May 2024 Top 50 All brands and Top 50 models below.