Thanks to the recent proportional offers, the car market in Italy soared in February (+27%). The two main manufacturers, FCA and Volkswagen, did even better than the average, recording sales growth of 32 and 30 percent respectively.
In detail, last month 172.241 cars were registered in Italy, with a variation of +27,29% compared to February 2015, when registrations were 135.317. In January 2016, on the other hand, 155.722 cars were sold (+17,87% compared to January 2015). This was announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, specifying that FCA saw registrations grow overall by 32,2%, with the Fiat brand at +33,77%.
As for the Volkswagen crisis linked to Dieselgate, it is over. The VW brand is the third for registrations in Italy, behind Fiat and Ford. In detail, Ford saw registrations of 12.662 units in February (+33,78% and market share up to 7,35%). VW, on the other hand, saw 12.609 registrations (+30,03% and the share rose to 7,32%) while the subsidiary Audi with 6 registrations recorded a growth of 36,37%. Then follow Renault with 9.892 cars sold in February (+17,89% and share down to 5,74%), Peugeot with 9.817 units (+29,29% and almost stable share at 5,7%), and Opel with 9.618 vehicles (+25,06% and stable share at 5,58%).
Also in February 2016, 428.860 transfers of ownership of used cars were recorded, with a variation of +13,57% compared to February 2015, during which 377.619 were registered (in January 2016, instead, 374.184 transfers of ownership were registered of used cars, with a variation of +6,34% compared to January 2015, during which 351.869 were registered).
In February 2016, the global volume of sales (601.101 cars) therefore involved 28,65% of new cars and 71,35% of used cars. In the period January-February 2016, the DMV registered a total of 327.963 cars, with a variation of +22,64% compared to the period January-February 2015, during which 267.428 were registered. In the same period of January-February 2016, 803.044 transfers of ownership of used cars were registered, with a variation of +10,08% compared to January-February 2015, during which 729.488 were registered.
“After the fiery beginning of January, February shows the effect of the disruptive force of the promotional offers fielded by manufacturers and dealers. Very onerous initiatives that are not sustainable in the medium term – commented Filippo Pavan Bernacchi, president of Federauto -. It had been many years since we had seen an increase of this magnitude, driven above all by the need that could no longer be postponed to replace obsolete, expensive, polluting and dangerous vehicles. It remains to be seen whether the commercial initiatives of these months are anticipating demand or whether the trend will consolidate over the course of the year. If it were an advance in demand, the increase could be reabsorbed during the year to reach an average +5/7%. If it consolidates, we will gladly revise our estimates upwards”.
