The year of coronavirus has just ended on a high note for EV markets throughout Europe. With traditional car sales down everywhere by double digit percentages, electric cars have taken charge, offering a taste of things to come. This is also true for Italy, where December monthly EV sales skyrocketed to over eight times last year’s levels!
November marks yet another fantastic month for the rise of electric mobility in Italy, the fourth largest European car market, as EV sales break records once again. Meanwhile, traditional car sales struggle as their share of fiscal stimulus ends. With more new EVs entering the scene every month, we are likely witnessing a key moment in the ongoing shift to electric mobility in the country.
Italy’s car market consolidates its recovery from the Spring lows in October, as sales rebound to last year’s levels. Meanwhile, the road to electrification continues, with exponential growth trends reaffirmed in the country and across Europe.
EV adoption in 2020 is skyrocketing in most European countries, with governments’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic focusing on a green recovery. As we enter the last few months of the year, the effects of these environmental policies and the ongoing rollout of new EV models on the market are starting to show. Italy is no exception to this, as September figures for electric car registrations reach new heights.
Italy’s car market is back in full swing after a horrible Spring and a progressive recovery from early Summer. Official August market figures are out and offer a very upbeat picture. A market improvement was broadly anticipated, as this month marks the introduction of new incentives aimed at electric mobility and low emission ICE vehicles. What remained to be seen was which powertrains would benefit the most from the new policy.
Summer continues with a strong growth trend for the Italian EV market. With the broader car industry now in recovery mode as the coronavirus pandemic falls under control, and ahead of enhanced EV incentives recently passed by Italy’s government, July monthly car sales figures paint a well known picture of steady growth for electric mobility.
Italy’s EV market is finally getting hot. Following months of unprecedented growth and despite an incredibly adverse time in history, electric mobility has now reached the halfway point of this infamous year with outstanding figures, doubling sales from 2019. And the most important aspect is, we haven’t seen anything yet.
The Italian government is preparing new fiscal measures to sustain the economic recovery, following months of lockdown at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Like in many other countries, particularly so in Europe, economic stimulus is being directed preferentially to a sustainable recovery, especially in the transport and construction industries. As part of proposed new measures, current incentives to low emission vehicles are set to be increased by at least 50% from August for the rest of the year, to levels aligned to similar policies recently adopted in countries like France and Germany.
Electric car sales keep their strong momentum in Italy. As the nation’s car market recovers from the coronavirus collapse of previous months, overall volumes are returning to healthy levels amidst strong signs of a new reality in the industry. June figures show consolidating trends of change that will likely lead to electric surprises in the second half of the year.
The worst is over for global car sales, following the coronavirus black swan that has put an indelible mark on 2020. With every nation slowly enacting new phases of reopening, the car industry can breath a sigh of relief, as car sales everywhere pick up momentum after an awful few weeks at near-zero. Fast in bouncing back is Italy’s market, which – although still about 50% down year-on-year – is way up from the April lows that saw it crater by 97.5% from the same month last year. So does this mean we’re back to business as usual? Not quite.
