As the rolling back of the state-supported "eco" incentives continue to hurt the Italian new car market, 152,752 new cars were registered in Italy last month, according to automotive trade body UNRAE, and compared to 206,334 units during the same month last year that equates to a fall of more than a quarter (-25.97 percent).

With 44,594 registrations in Italy last month the Fiat Group was down a massive 35.70 percent on the 69,357 units it shifted during the same month a year ago and that chopped its market share for July to just 29.19 percent, its worst performance for half a decade (33.61 percent during July 2009). The Fiat brand was the biggest loser from the Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) brand portfolio during July in year-on-year terms: it saw 32,245 registrations, down over 20,000 units on the same month last year and thus dropped a huge 39.53 percent while its market share shrank all the way from 25.84 to 21.11 percent year-on-year. Lancia also stumbled badly, its 7,221 units last month was down 32.40 percent year-on-year and as a result its market share dropped from 5.18 percent to 4.73 percent. Alfa Romeo meanwhile, driven on by demand for the new C-segment Giulietta, was more cushioned from the blows: its 4,967 units registered last month was only a couple of hundred units shy of the same period last year, and as a result it dropped just 4.85 percent year-on-year. That meant Alfa Romeo easily outperformed the overall market's fall and as a result its market share climbed from 2.53 to 3.25 percent. The Fiat Group's niche luxury/performance brands Ferrari and Maserati both had a respectable month: the former added 93 registrations, led out by the California (43) and 458 Italia (31), which was up an impressive 45.31 percent year-on-year, while the latter's 68 units, mostly made up of the GranTurismo (31) and GranCabrio (27), was down a market-beating 4.23 percent.

After the first seven months of the year Italy has seen a total of 1,317,260 registrations which, despite the falls in recent months, leaves the overall market down just 1.48 percent year-on-year. The Fiat Group has a total of 405,408 registrations for the year-to-date, down 9.43 percent year-on-year, and as a result its market share for the seven month period has dropped from 33.48 to 30.78 percent year-on-year. The Fiat brand is on 311,251 registration YTD and is down 10.52 percent year-on-year, Lancia is on 60,680 units YTD, down 2.31 percent, while Alfa Romeo's 32,564 units YTD is down 11.26 percent. Of the niche brands Ferrari has 555 registrations, led out by the California (303) and the 458 Italia (189), up 9.47 percent, while Maserati is on 358 units, its best seller is the GranTurismo (174), and is down 21.15 percent.

The Fiat Punto (including Punto Classic, Grande Punto and Punto EVO combined) was Italy's best selling car last month with 10,655 units finding buyers, while its smaller sister, the Fiat Panda (10,192), also made it into five figures. Third slot for the month went to Ford's Fiesta (6,897) while the Fiat 500 (5,298) made it three Fiat brand products in the Italian best-selling top-four. Lancia's Ypsilon (4,192) which turned in a strong month was the only other FGA representative in the top-ten in sixth place. For the year-to-date the Punto (107,544) is Italy's best-selling car and has tipped through the six-figure sales barrier, while the Panda (92,808) is second, the 500 (46,501) fourth and the Ypsilon (30,451) ninth.

The Punto (4,235) was the best selling diesel in Italy for the month and for YTD it also holds the top spot with 33,165 registrations. Alfa Romeo's new Giulietta (1,719) burst its way into the oil-burning top-ten for the first time during July while the Panda (1,649) in ninth place rounded out FGA representation in the diesel equipped segment for the month. The Fiesta was the best-selling LPG car last month in Italy with the Punto (1,092) a very distant second and the Panda (960) third. For the year-to-date the Fiesta holds the LPG top-spot, the Punto (24,744) is second, four thousand units adrift, the Panda (11,148) is fifth, and the Ypsilon (7,580) just squeezes its way into the top-ten. Amongst methane-powered cars the Fiat brand had a top-four lock for July out led out by the Panda (1,020) and followed home by the Punto (406), Multipla (299) and Qubo (180). For the year-to-date the story is very much the same, although these models previously attracted generous incentives so sales data is considerably higher, with the Panda (17,960) comfortably on top again ahead of the Punto (14,432), Qubo (7,598) and Multipla (3,788).

Across the segments, the Panda and 500 easily led out A-segment in July while the Punto comfortably topped B-segment. However a very good month for the Ypsilon saw it fourth in B-segment last month easily beating the VW Polo, Opel Corsa, Toyota Yaris and Peugeot 207. Alfa Romeo's Mito (1,384) failed to make the top-ten as its sales slumped, they were down by over a half compared to the same month last year, although for the year-to-date it has 19,234 registrations, one hundred units ahead of the same month last year, and was the best-selling coupé category car for the month.

In C-segment the new Giulietta (2,931) jumped into third place behind the VW Golf (4,024) and Nissan Qashqai (3,036) while the Fiat Bravo's sales continued to head sharply south, despite new engines and some cosmetic improvements it managed only eighth place in July and with just 1,819 registrations that was down by almost a half on last year. For YTD it is however still the fourth best-selling car in C-segment with 18,010 units and is 7,000 units down on the same seven months of last year. On place behind the Bravo last month in C-segment was Lancia's Delta (1,426) which showed good resilience despite the new Giulietta encroaching onto its territory, and for the year-to-date it is on 12,057 units and is the ninth best-seller in the segment. In D-segment both the Fiat Croma (428) and Alfa Romeo 159 failed to crack the top-ten last month although the former was the eighth best-selling station wagon in Italy last month.