German, Italian Car Sales Up in March

New-car registrations in Italy rose by 18% last month, partly due to one more working day compared with March 2016.

Sales for the month were 226,143, Italy’s Transport Ministry said on Wednesday. The increase is the 34th year-on-year monthly rise in sales and the best result for the month since 2010, Automotive News Europe reported on April 5.

Sales to individual customers were up 5.4% in March while sales to car rental companies increased 37% and business sales jumped 39%.

Fiat Chrysler sales grew by more than 21%, with all the group’s brands posting positive numbers. Fiat’s volume increased by 20%, while Jeep’s volume rose by 26%. Maserati sales soared by 116% on sales of its new Levante SUV. Alfa Romeo’s sales gained 46%, boosted by the Giulia sedan. Both models were launched in the second half of 2016.

Volkswagen Group sales increased by 13%, with VW brand sales up 15%, SEAT up 13% and Skoda sales gaining 47%. Audi lagged with a 2% rise.

PSA Group sales rose 17%, with Citroen sales up 24%, outperforming Peugeot’s 15% increase. DS sales fell 35%.

Renault Group’s volume rose by 21% with Renault brand sales up 35% and Dacia’s volume declining by 14%.

Other automakers posting double-digit gains included Opel, which increased sales by 25%, Toyota which rose 20% and Nissan up 26%. Ford sales increased by 20%.

BMW Group sales grew by 7%, while Daimler’s volume rose 4%, thanks to a 6% increase in Mercedes-Benz registrations.

Italian market sales through March are up 12 % to 582,465. Registrations were very high on the last working day of the quarter at 47,000 vehicles, according to Federauto, the Italian dealer association.

 German Sales Figures

Meanwhile, new car registrations in Germany increased 11%% to 359,683 in March, echoing signs of strong growth in Italy and elsewhere, data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) showed on Tuesday.

The gain was helped by two extra selling days. Adjusted for the two days, March sales rose about 2%, analysts said.

Sales in March were helped by an increase of 13% in private demand.

Diesel models’ share of registrations kept falling in March to 40.6% from 47.2%. First-quarter sales in Germany were up 6.2% to 978,196, the KBA said.