In the whole of 2021, car registrations in Italy should reach 1,460,000, an insufficient level to allow the normal replacement of cars that have reached the end of the race. The consequence is that the Italian park, which has a consistency of almost 40 million cars and which has long been the oldest in Europe, will become even older with serious consequences for safety and atmospheric pollution.
There are many causes for the collapse of registrations. The latest is the microchip crisis which is strongly hindering the production of cars with the consequence of product shortages to meet demand, which, however, is far from sustained as it is penalized by the effects of the pandemic, by the economic situation, which is recovering, but still far from the levels of 2019, due to the fact that the use of the car has been reduced due to smart working and the fear of contagions. To cope with this situation, the Government and Parliament, also in 2021 as in 2020, have launched incentives for the purchase of cars, but with insufficient funds and with measures that in fact appeared to be inspired by a stop and go logic.
As if this complex of negative factors were not enough, another strongly penalizing phenomenon is being recorded: the disorientation of car buyers who, strongly stimulated to switch to electric, do not yet believe they can do it due to their type of use of the car and due to the lack of recharging infrastructures and, however, they have strong hesitation in buying a new traditional car, and in particular a diesel one, because they fear that this new car will be heavily penalized by a possible collapse in the prices of traditional used cars. The icing on the cake, then, is also a considerable “disturbance” of the dealers for the declared intention of many manufacturers to want to overcome the car distribution system based on the concession contract.
A real perfect storm. Given the weight of the sector on the Italian economy, it is therefore more than legitimate to expect the Government and Parliament to launch an organic recovery plan in the logic of the ecological transition. The budget has not been used and the hope is that no more time will be wasted: it is unthinkable that the Italian economy will be able to overcome the damage of the health emergency with the heavy ball and chain of a sector that is worth 12% of GDP and is in disarray.