Leading car brand sales in Italy 2016-2022

Which brand sold the most cars in Italy in 2022? Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fiat topped the country’s sales ranking with sales of just under 179,000 cars that year. The Italian car brand was followed by Volkswagen (roughly 104,900 passenger cars sold) and Toyota (approximately 92,200 units).

 Small cars drive passenger car sales in Italy ...

Overall car sales in Italy showed a positive trend in recent years until 2018, when a decrease of about three percent on the previous year was observed. Sales further contracted through 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing demand. Figures from 2021 indicate a marginal improvement regarding national passenger car sales. Segment B cars, or small cars, led sales with just under 555,000 units sold in 2021, followed by segment C (medium-sized) cars and segment A (mini cars).

... whereas online sales stay behind

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, car buyers in Italy had multiple reasons why they did not want to buy a vehicle online. For instance, a total of 52 percent of the respondents wanted to see a vehicle before purchasing it. On the other hand, 51 percent of respondents reported that online stores offered good prices and promotions. With the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020, car manufacturers are exploring ways to boost their online sales to offset financial losses incurred by the closure of their showrooms amid lockdowns and other restrictions.