Consumption, new car slows down purchase intentions in April

After the one-year record levels recorded in March, Italians' purchase intentions for the next three months as measured by the Findomestic (Bnp Paribas group) monthly observatory in April are down by 4.1 per cent. The new car sector, which at the beginning of March had recorded a recovery in purchase intentions of more than 15 per cent, which was matched by the recovery in registrations last month, recorded a new drop in consumer propensity in April (-16.3 per cent), causing the entire durable goods sector to retreat.

"The increase in inflation certified by Istat in March," comments Claudio Bardazzi, Findomestic Observatory manager, "has been perceived by consumers: the percentage of those who perceive "prices rising sharply" rises by two points, and three quarters of the Findomestic monthly Observatory sample continues to perceive rising prices.

According to the Observatory, households declaring to have very or fairly problematic economic situations are 39%, a percentage slightly lower than that recorded in March (42%) and substantially in line with that identifying those who declare themselves optimistic about the future (42% of the sample). In addition to new cars, household appliances (-15.3%), TVs (-13.6%), furniture (-12.9%) and thermal insulation systems (-9.9%) also accounted for the general drop in purchase intentions.

On the other hand, the highest rises were related to motorbikes (+30%), cameras (+29.6%) and electric scooters (+25.5%). The warm weather also encourages people to buy travel (+2.7%) and do work on their homes, especially to install new windows (+5.5%), heat pumps (+4.2%) and condensation and biomass boilers (+10.5%).

The last two reached the highest point in the propensity to purchase in 12 months. The intentions to renovate homes in general (-1.7%) and to purchase photovoltaic systems (-1%) are slightly down. For the next three months, as noted by the Findomestic Observatory, the desire to buy sports equipment (-9.3%), telephony (-8.5%), small household appliances (-6%) and do-it-yourself equipment (-2.4%) will also fall. Positive signals came from technology, which grew by 3.3% with PCs and 6.7% with tablets.