Italy August 2026: Omoda/Jaecoo and BYD Seal U in Top 10 for the first time

Omoda/Jaecoo is the #8 brand in Italy in August with 4.1% share.

New car sales in Italy gain 3.2% year-on-year in August to 69,411 units in what is traditionally the weakest month of the year, coinciding with the summer holidays. The year-to-date volume is now up 8.5% to 1,129,596 which is however -14.8% below the pre-pandemic figure of 8 months 2019. Private sales gain 2.6% year-on-year to 38,294 and 54.5% share vs. 55.1% a year ago (+10.8% to 53.4% YTD), self registrations drop -5% to 11,170 and 15.9% share vs. 17.3% last year (+5.3% to 10.9% share YTD, long term leases advance 8.3% to 14,660 and 20.9% share vs. 20% in August 2025 (-2.4% to 21% share YTD), short term rentals surge 62.7% to 2,540 and 3.6% share vs. 2.3% (+41.5% to 9.5% share YTD) and company sales are up 1.1% to 3,640 and 5.2% share vs. 5.3% last year (+0.9% to 5.7% share YTD).

The 15 years old Fiat Panda is still the best-selling vehicle in Italy, by far.

HEV sales are up 7.5% to 32,969 and 46.9% share vs. 45.2% a year ago, including 11,779 full hybrids (+25.5%) and 21,190 mild hybrids (-0.5%). PHEVs soar 74.3% to 8,446 and 12% share vs. 7.1% last year and BEVs gain 35.7% to 4,486 and 6.4% share vs. 4.9% in August 2025 and 5.9% last month. This means rechargeable vehicles see their sales grow 58.6% to 12,932 and 18.4% share vs. 12% a year ago and 16.4% in July. Year-to-date, BEVs advance 69.2% to 91,475 units and 8% share vs. 5.2% over the same period in 2025.

The BYD Seal U is up to #7 in Italy this month.

In the brands ranking, local behemoth Fiat (+22.3%) continues to rally back and scores a still very modest 11% share at home. Volkswagen (+8.8%) is up two spots on July to land in 2nd place, leapfrogging past Toyota (-16.5%) and Dacia (-14.8%). Renault (+9%) is solid and repeats at #5 ahead of BMW (-9.5%) and Audi (-3.5%) both struggling. The event of the month is the 8th place of Chinese carmaker Omoda+Jaecoo (+209.7%) tripling its year-ago volume. This is the first time the co-brands finish inside the Top 10, with a previous best of #13 reached just last month. It’s also a record share at 4.1%. BYD (+194.4%) is also in outstanding shape but slides outside the Top 10 at #11. Kia (+16%) and MG (+13.4%) also impress. 

The Lancia Gamma makes its first appearance in the Italian charts.

Over in the models charts, the Fiat Panda (+13.6%) dominates again with 6.7% share, distancing a suffering Dacia Sandero (-11.6%) and a surging Citroen C3 (+59.2%). The Jeep Avenger (-34%) craters year-on-year but gains four spots on July to #4, managing to maintain itself in 2nd place year-to-date above the Sandero. The Fiat Grande Panda (+41.9%) drops one rank to #5, confirming its lukewarm performance at just 2.2% share. Up to #3 last month, the Renault Clio (+38.7%) once again performs way above its year-ago level but falls to #6. Meanwhile the BYD Seal U (+171.4%) surges 20 spots on last month to break into the Top 10 for the first time at #7 and 2.1% share (previous best #17 and 1.5% share).  Illustrating the co-brands performance, the Omoda 5 (+221.4%) soars to a record #15 while the Jaecoo 7 (+37.4%) is up to #32, the Omoda 9 sells 317 units and the Jaecoo 8 180. Notice also the Lancia Gamma selling its first 14 units and ranking #9 in its segment.

Previous month: Italy July 2026: Omoda/Jaecoo breaks records, Renault Clio up to #3

One year ago: Italy August 2025: Fiat Grande Panda gears up, Kia Sportage cracks Top 10

Full August 2026 Top 58 All brands and Top 50 models below.