Italy July 2020

Smart Fortwo EV wins July, but Renault Zoe is #1 in 2020

If the overall Italian marketis still  in the final stages of the pandemic recovery (-11% in July), the local PEV market is on fire, with sales last month up 177% YoY, to 3.690 units, a step below the record score of June (3.890), but considering the doom and gloom before it, one could hardly expect better.

With plugin sales growing fast, last month plugin share reached 2,7% (1,2% BEV), while the 2020 share climbed to 2,5% (1,5% BEV), more than doubling last year result. 

In what is traditionally a BEV-friendly market, plugin hybrids are making large strides, registering the majority of sales last month (57%), although YTD, BEVs still have the upper hand (59% vs 41%). 

It has been a long time coming, but it seems Italy is finally warming up to plugins, and with FIAT launching the new 500e in the coming weeks, we will surely see even more growth on top of the current one.

But back at July, looking at the best selling models, the Smart Fortwo EV was July's Best Seller, with 350 units, its best score in 2020, but nevertheless, the two seater EV is still far from the Zoe YTD leadership.

Other noticeable performances last month were the Volvo XC40 PHEV jumping six spots to #8, thanks to a record 302 registrations, being last month runner-up model and confirming its popularity across Europe, while the Mini Cooper EV was also up, in this case to #16.

One quirk of this market is the popularity of small cars, not only we have four small BEVs in the Top 5, but the Opel Corsa EV has also its highest standing in a major market (#9), while people that prefer larger vehicles go for SUVs, with the Tesla Model 3 being the exception confirming the rule (now, imagine how well the Model Y will sell here...).  

Renault (11%) has surpassed the previous leader Peugeot (11%), with Smart (9%) following suit, while outside the podium, we have Volkswagen (8%) and Tesla (7%) trying to reach the medals.