True Fleet in Italy back in black with a positive May

Italian Fleet numbers once again returned to plus, with a good month from all the market channels. Total market finished very close to 212,000 registrations with a 10.3% growth over last May and the year-to-date figures breached the 1,000,000 mark. True Fleets month-on-month was positive to the tune of a + 4.7% and the Private market bounced back well from last month just beating True Fleet growth numbers with a + 7.9%.

The True Fleet manufacturers Top 10 welcomed two new entries for May, both from the Asian market with all except two of the ten brands registering positive growth figures. The first of the new entries came from Nissan which produced a + 47.5% expansion moving it from 12th in 8th place with rock solid volume hike from the Qashqai and the Micra. The second new entry was from Toyota, registering a + 60.9% in the growth stakes jumping four places into 10th. This was propelled by the Yaris, Aygo and C-HR’s 3-digit volume improvement over last May’s figures. Outside of the Top 10 a sterling month from Alfa Romeo saw them hit a 124.4% growth rate, the only manufacturer inside the Top 20 to see a 3-digit jump. The Stelvio leads this charge and it seems that the SUV is really starting to find its stride, while the Giulia also did well registering just 21 units shy of its SUV big brother.

Looking into the vehicle segments for True Fleet we decided to focus on the small vehicle segment. The segment achieved the highest growth for a segment of + 21.9% for the month of May. And while it cannot also be said to be the YTD highest segment growth (Utilities is #1 with 31.4%) small vehicle YTD growth figures are coincidently + 21.9% also. The segments Top 10 manufacturers shared the spoils with 92% of the monthly volume but it is one manufacturer that seems to stand out and it’s Citroën. With a monthly growth of 467.2% this brand’s single entry "the C3" is really motoring, its YTD

growth of 132.4% is only beaten by the Fiat Punto on 165.4% from inside the Top 10 models. Notably mentions for the monthly growth stats should also go to the Toyota Yaris with 110.2% and Nissan Micra with 177.7%. However the Ford KA+ generated something special in May, it managed more than 3 times its volume, just in May, than it registered in the previous 7 months combined.