The data on car sales in Italy show a worrying figure that confirms the collapse of classic cars’ sales with internal combustion engines (ICE). The positive side of the coin comes from the hand of electric vehicles that are growing strikingly.
The trend in the automotive world continues to decline. The society, legislation, and economics of decarbonization lead the traditional industry towards new goals that are still far from being achieved.
As a consequence of the pandemic that is affecting Italy so hard and the transformation of the market, together with the economic crisis that the West is experiencing after expanding the Coronavirus, the automobile market is going through low hours.
An example of the sector’s scope comes from the union of the three most important employers of the Italian automobile industry: Ania, Unrae, and Federauto. In a joint statement, the union associations have described the data for the month of last month as: “Black November.”
The unstoppable growth of the electric car
The fall in the transalpine market stands at -8.3%. Faced with these data, the electric car maintains an unstoppable growth that shows that manufacturers and analysts’ marginal market share to disregard this technology grows steadily.
Zero-emission 100% electric cars gain weight in the total volume, proving that they are neither an exception nor a reduced market niche. Despite the scarce supply and manufacturers’ low production capacity, battery-powered cars already account for 3.4% of the market.
Plug-in hybrids, falsely called electric in global calculations, also experienced a growth of 403% in November. This technology, which is not the final solution to combat emissions, reaches a market share of 3.5%.
Diesel and gasoline in free fall
Diesel cars lose more than -28% of sales. Those vehicles with a gasoline-fueled powertrain fall even further to -37%.
Italy has an important market for methane and LPG cars. In the first case, registrations fall to -30%. On the contrary, the latter grew 14%.
Accumulated car sales figures for the transalpine country, during the eleven months of the year, show a loss of 515,000 units compared to the same period in 2019. The fall, in percentage terms, stands at 29%.
The classifications of pure electric cars
The sales figures for zero-emission cars place the small Volkswagen Up! electric as the best-selling car. The Smart Fortwo EQ and the Renault ZOE occupy, respectively, the next steps of the podium.
The Italian market has a particular preference for small and inexpensive vehicles to move citizens in urban environments and short journeys. The supply of low-cost electric cars shows that there is a market for them.
Cars that do not emit harmful gases, low cost, and occupying little public space, allow cities to improve their emissions while guaranteeing citizens access to a technology that is still far from all economies’ reach due to its high cost.