Cars: the market is still recovering, although the pace is slowing
New car registrations rose by 3.15 per cent in August, with Chinese brands consolidating their market share at 15 per cent – Stellantis outperformed the market thanks to Leapmotor
The recovery in sales volumes on the Italian car market continues, although the pace of growth is slowing compared with recent months, buoyed by the impact of registrations generated as a result of the October 2025 incentives. In August, new car registrations rose by 3.15 per cent compared with the same month in 2025, bringing the figure for the first eight months of the year to an 8.5 per cent increase compared with last year, totalling one million 129,596 units.
“Without the incentives, the growth trend in electric car sales is slowing and market share is falling (6.4 per cent, compared with 10.2 per cent in June),” notes ANFIA. Against this backdrop, the growth of Chinese brands continues, with their market share standing at around 15 per cent for the period from January to August.
Ninth consecutive monthly increase
For the Italian market, the Promotor Research Centre points out, this marks the ninth consecutive monthly increase. “In parallel with sales volumes, the recovery in dealer network sentiment is also taking hold,” the Research Centre notes. The confidence index for automotive operators, as part of the monthly economic survey, recorded a rise of 1.8 points in August compared with the previous month. This is the second consecutive increase following July’s rise, confirming a renewed alignment between the actual trend in registrations and operators’ perceptions. The downward trend that characterised the first half of the year has therefore come to an end.
Overall, the market remains almost 15 per cent below 2019 levels, the pre-Covid period, but based on cumulative results, the Promotor Research Centre estimates a total volume of approximately 1,585,188 registrations for the whole of 2026, representing growth of +3.9 per cent compared with 2025.
Stellantis is growing in line with the market, but if sales of the Leapmotor brand – distributed in Europe by the group led by Antonio Filosa – are also taken into account, growth is double that of the market, at 6.2 per cent compared with August 2025. In the ranking of the month’s best-selling cars, the Fiat Pandina remains in first place, with 4,686 registrations and a 6.8 per cent share of the total market. The top 10 also features four other Stellantis models: the Citroën C3, Jeep Avenger, Fiat Grande Panda and Peugeot 208, in third, fourth, fifth and ninth place respectively. The Fiat brand continues to grow by more than 20 per cent month-on-month.
