ROMA – The first quarter of the year is difficult to interpret for the automotive sector. The sales data analyzed by the Brumbrum Observatory show a first part of the year closed with a plus sign compared to the same period of 2020. However, it is almost impossible to make a comparison of the values of March 2021 with those of the same month of the previous year. since it coincides with the period of the beginning of the health emergency which caused an almost total paralysis of the sector. In the first quarter, sales of the new one increased by 28.6% compared to the same period of last year, while the used one grew by 9.2%. The reference to used online vehicles is slightly better (+ 15.3%), but this figure is distorted by the + 81% recorded in March 2021 compared to the same month of 2020. By analyzing only the months of January and February 2021, the Brumbrum Observatory highlights that the results for online second hand sales are very negative compared to those of the previous year: -6.8% for the first month, -0.3% for February, while comparing the values to those of 2019, the decline in the first quarter of 2021 is 7.2%. For two consecutive years, therefore, the first quarter of the year closed in negative compared to the 2019 data.
A very similar trend was also observed with regard to the procurement of cars, which in March 2020 recorded a sharp collapse due to the measures adopted by the government to contain the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. The online stock marks a + 5.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020 (a figure distorted from the + 84% recorded in March 2021), while January and February 2021 were negative compared to last year, respectively -16.2% and – 12.8%. Also in this case, therefore, the data for the first quarter of 2021 compared to 2019 are rather unhappy with an overall decline of 13.6% compared to two years ago. “There is therefore a general shortage of the product – underline the Brumbrum Observatory – the economic uncertainty has made families postpone the change of the car to future dates, while the renters have extended the existing contracts, thus reducing the volumes destined to used. As a result, the supply of used cars for sale has decreased. Also in the coming months we will see misleading sales data, with percentages far higher than 2020, but the truth is that the sector is far from out of the crisis. We hope to see signs of recovery in the auto market in the near future, which has been suffering for over a year. The hope is to be able to reach and eventually exceed the results of 2019 as soon as possible “. (mr)
.