In October this year, the Italian car market recorded a marked retreat compared to the same month last year, falling by 35.7 percent year on year to 101,015 units, as announced by Italy’s transport ministry. In the first ten months of 2021, registrations totaled 1,266,629, up 12.7 percent compared to the same period of 2020. The comparison with 2019, however, was down almost 360,000 cars or 22 percent.
"The impromptu measures adopted on several occasions by the government, based on a typically emergency logic and with funds always largely insufficient, have failed to effectively help the market to recover," UNRAE, the association of foreign car makers operating in Italy, commented.
"We will keep on repeating that the incentives for the eco-bonus must be refinanced in line with a long-term strategy. What must guide the government's choices is a logic based on transition, on the path of decarbonisation, and on the modernization of the circulating fleet," UNRAE president Michele Crisci said.
The situation is exacerbated by the continuing shortage of components on a global scale, specifically semiconductors, which is slowing down deliveries. UNRAE said it expects a drop of 21.7 percent or 417,000 in registrations in Italy this year as compared to 2019, to an approximate total of 1,600,000 units.