Con 168.294 registrations in Italy, the car market recorded an increase in the month of March 40,8% volumes compared to a year ago. The result brings the first quarter of the year to 427,019 registrations since January, with an increase of 26.2% on the same period of 2022. The distance compared to the pre-covid phase has reduced but still remains very significant, with a 20.6% fewer registrations compared to 2019.
The numbers recorded in the month of March they explain in the light of two factors, according to the Promotor Study Center directed by Gian Primo Quagliano: the first is represented by the comparison with a particularly difficult month, March 2022, which had recorded 29.7% fewer registrations than March 2021; the second factor, this time positive, is linked to improvement of production capacity of car manufacturers and the delivery times of cars that are normalizing, after a long phase characterized by the crisis of semiconductors and microchips.
Good performance for almost all brands
All brands record brilliant performances with the exception of Jaguar. In some cases, such as for Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Dr or Cupra, volumes have doubled or tripled compared to the same month last year, good results also for Tesla, which reaches almost 3,000 cars sold, and for Maserati. Then the growth of the brands that come from is consolidated Chinese such as MG, which exceeds 2,300 units at 1.4% market share.
Fiat remains the best-selling brand in Italy with over 17 thousand car registered, up more than 6% from the beginning of the year, followed by Volkswagen (11,700), up 40% from a year ago. Toyota, Peugeot e Ford brands with volumes of around 10 thousand cars a year, with a good recovery in volumes on March 2022 with the exception of the American brand. The performance of the premium brands com Audi, Bmw e Volvonext to Jeep almost doubling in the month and an increase of more than 50% since the beginning of the year.
Projected, registrations for the whole year could reach million and 400 thousand units during 2023. Among the problems of the Italian market, highlights Quagliano, the rising price of cars – 44% of dealers expect further price increases as emerges from the survey on the automobile market by the Centro Studi Promotor
conducted at the end of March – and the “slow” electrification of the fleet. “The share of electric cars remains decidedly modest – adds Quagliano – while in the other main European countries it is now double-digit. And this despite the fact that since 10 January 190 million have been available for incentives for the purchase of electric cars, of which only 10.3% have been used».