Italy March 2025: MG breaks into Top 10, sales up 6.2%

MG is among the 10 most popular carmakers in Italy for the first time.

New car sales in Italy are back up 6.2% year-on-year in March to 172,223 units, yet a slow start of the year means the year-to-date volume remains down at -1.6% to 443,906. Private sales edge down -0.7% to 81,028 and 46.7% share vs. 49.7% a year ago and are off -5.3% YTD to 241,459 and 54% vs. 55.7% over the same period in 2024. Self registrations fall -25.6% to 14,088 for the month and -14.4% YTD to 37,696. Long term leases jump 33.3% to 46,061 and 26.6% share vs. 21.1% last year and are up 11.5% YTD to 106,300 and 23.8% share vs. 20.8%. Short term rentals gain 13.9% to 23,143 and 13.3% share vs. 12.4% and are down -2.7% YTD to 37,113 and 8.3% share vs. 8.3% a year ago.

As for sales by alimentation, petrol drops -9.5% for the month to 46,220 and sinks -15.7% YTD to 118,535. Diesel falls -28.7% to 17,751 and -37.1% YTD to 43,820 and LPG gains 3.9% to 13,431 and is off -4.4% YTD to 41,315. HEVs soar 23.3% to 78,796 for the month, including 22,308 full hybrids (+23.9%) and 56,488 mild hybrids (+23.1%). YTD, HEVs are up 15.1% to 201,453 including 55,193 full hybrids (+14.7%) and 146,260 mild hybrids (+15.2%). PHEVs surge 37.4% to 7,841 for the month and +30.1% to 18,916 YTD. Finally, BEVs surge 75.1% off a low year-ago base to 9,393 and 5.4% share vs. 3.3% a year ago and up 72.2% YTD to 23,073 and 5.2% share vs. 2.9% over the same period in 2024. These are still very low BEV shares compared with the rest of Europe.

Fiat (-2.2%) is in the lead at home for the third straight month at a wobbly 9.7% share vs. 10.7% so far this year. Toyota (-1.9%) repeats at #2 and reclaims that spot in the YTD charts off Dacia (+9.5%). Volkswagen (-9.9%) is up one rank on February to #3, as is Peugeot (+27.8%) in excellent shape. Renault (+12.5%) and Jeep (+7.1%) also beat the market while BMW (+6%) matches it. But the best performance near the top of the charts is delivered by MG, up 65.8% year-on-year to #10. This is the brand’s very first incursion into the Italian Top 10, also beating its volume (6,582) and share (3.8%) records. BYD (+2452.9%), Cupra (+61.2%), Tesla (+51.3%), Alfa Romeo (+45%) and Nissan (+22.9%) also shine below.

Model-wise, the Top 4 remains unchanged on last month. The Fiat Panda (+6.6%) manages a year-on-year lift despite its age to easily stay in pole position with 7.3% share vs. 8.5% so far this year. The Dacia Sandero (-6.5%) is in difficulty but stays in 2nd place ahead of the Citroen C3 (+13.9%). The Jeep Avenger (+51.8%) and Peugeot 208 (+51.2%) round out the Top 5 in formidable fashion. The Opel Corsa (+73.6%), MG ZS (+37.2%) and Nissan Qashqai (+30.2%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10. The Fiat 600 (+5105.8%) celebrates one year in market with a record 15th place, inside the Top 20 for the 2nd month in a row and ever. The new MG 3 soars to an all-time high #21 while the BYD Seal U is up to a record #34 for its 2nd month into the Top 50 just as the Renault Symbioz breaks into it for the first time at #48. Note the new Fiat Grande Panda has registered 374 units for the month.

Previous month: Italy February 2025: Fiat (-16.1%) embattled but in the lead

One year ago: Italy March 2024: Market down -3.7%, BEVs off -34.5%

Full March 2025 Top 51 All brands and Top 50 models below.