The firm’s data shows Italian new registrations declined by a moderate 1.3% in July. While the slump in private demand was largely consistent with the slump in the overall market, company registrations bucked the trend and gained slightly once again. In addition to the strength of company car registrations, the fact that last month had one extra working day (relative to the same month of last year) was one reason for the mildness of the decline.

Looking at the development by brand, while the sales of the domestic brands in July were down from the year before (by 5.6%), the sales of the importers stagnated by -0.3%. All domestic high-volume brands market. The hardest hit were Fiat (down 6.0%) and Lancia (down 5.5%).

Commenting on the forecast for new registrations, Polk said like the general economy, new car sales are not expected to recover this year. The market will decline once again in 2013 (down 6.3%) to about 1.31 million units. Only around the end of the year will passenger vehicle sales begin to approach last year's level.

It added that the economy will improve slightly next year, as business and consumer confidence returns, and consumers make new car purchases which were put off during the crisis. New registrations will reach about 1.42 million units in 2014. Nevertheless, the market will be about where it was at the start of the 1980s.