According to the data released by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), in June this year new motor vehicle registrations in Italy decreased by 23.13 percent year on year to 132,457 units. The percentage decrease in June was slower compared to the 49.61 percent year-on-year decline recorded in the previous month.
In the January-June period of the current year, new passenger car registrations in Italy totaled 583,960 units, down 46.09 percent year on year.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) performed slightly better compared to the rest of the market in June with 18,561 registrations, down by 20.32 percent year on year. In the January-June period of the current year, FCA sold 138.681 cars compared to 266,891 in the same period of the previous year, down 48.04 percent. Fiat Panda was still the best-selling car in June (9,147 units). In the top 10 are other cars from FCA: third place for Lancia Ypsilon (3,508 units), sixth place for Fiat 500X (3,096 units) and ninth place for Fiat 500 (2,739 units).
Michele Crisci, chairman of UNRAE (Unione Nazionale Rappresentanti Autoveicoli Esteri), said that, despite the reopening of the economy, the loss of car registrations caused by the coronavirus pandemic continued in June. As expected, the mere restart of economic activities is not enough for demand to recover as families and business are still suffering from the long closure and uncertainties surrounding the future. According to Crisci, several factors prove that the automotive sector is going through a challenging era, including low cash flow, slack demand and excessive vehicle stocks.