Electric cars have seen a 40.5% boom in one year, but the market is struggling overall.

ROME – In a struggling market, electric vehicles are gaining ever-increasing market share in Italy. The year-on-year increase (July 2025 vs. July 2024) is 40.5% . Last month, battery-powered vehicles registered 5,764 new registrations, and the market share of BEVs (cars without an internal combustion engine) stood at 4.85%, up from 3.27% in the same month last year. In short, the positive trend of zero-emission vehicles continues.

Leapmotor, BYD and Tesla

According to data compiled by Motus-E , the association representing industry players, 50,539 electric cars were registered in the first seven months of 2025, bringing the total number of fully electric vehicles in Italy to 324,611. In this sector, growth in Chinese vehicles from Leapmotor and BYD is noteworthy, while Tesla's performance is negative.

Leapmotor, the Chinese brand distributed by Stellantis, celebrated a record-breaking July, posting its best monthly result ever: 371 total registrations and brand growth (+14%) compared to the previous month. In the BEV market, the company achieved a record 5% share and ranked seventh in the Italian rankings . In the private channel, it climbed to the podium, taking third place with an 8.9% share.

Among individual models, the Leapmotor T03 was the best-selling BEV overall in July, with 282 units sold, confirming its position as the segment's bestseller. "The T03 represents the perfect blend of innovation, sustainability, and urban practicality. July's results demonstrate that Italian drivers appreciate electric mobility, when offered with the right features and at an affordable price," explains Federico Scopelliti, country manager for Leapmotor Italy .

"The market continues to show signs of resilience, but the wait for new incentives risks becoming a drag. It's positive that the government has announced the arrival of new targeted incentives for low-income groups in September; now we need to be quick and clear because the timeframe for spending the resources is tight," observes Fabio Pressi , president of Motus-E. "For Italy to reach the market share levels of other European countries," he continues, "we need consistent and certain measures over the years, such as reviewing the deductibility of company car purchase and rental costs."

BYD , on the other hand, climbed the rankings, entering the top 20 of brands sold in Italy (2,268 registrations in July between passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, for a 1.7% market share); Tesla, on the other hand, slowed the decline but recorded a 5% decrease in new vehicle sales in July (457 units).

The numbers of MIT

According to data from the Ministry of Transport , 118,493 cars were registered in Italy in July, a 5.11% decrease compared to the same month in 2024. In the first seven months of the year, however, registrations were 973,396, 3.75% less than the same period of the previous year.

In terms of market share, in July the Fiat brand , which had briefly lost first place on a monthly basis last year, confirmed its leading position in Italy by market share with 9.33% (registrations up 8.09% to 11,061). The Turin-based manufacturer is ahead of Toyota/Lexus with 8.08%, which are counted together in the ministry's tables (for example, Citroën/DS are also calculated together), Dacia with 7.4%, and Volkswagen with 6.96%.

Anfia's appeal

Faced with the market downturn, Roberto Vavassori, president of the National Association of the Italian Automotive Industry (Anfia), is sounding the alarm for institutions: "The trend of the Italian auto market unfortunately remains confirmed in negative territory and with a July figure of over -5% it cannot leave Italian politics indifferent, let alone European politics."

"In particular, the lack, to date, of a firm date and a precise agenda for the revision of the CO2 regulation for light-duty vehicles weighs heavily on the market," he explains, "fueling uncertainty and perplexity among potential buyers, who, for the most part, are still reluctant to opt for a new, all-electric vehicle. We strongly reiterate once again that, in the long and very challenging transition that will take the industry to 2035, concrete measures are urgently needed to achieve true technological neutrality for energy sources. Vavassori emphasizes that all technologies currently available must be considered and actively contribute to the decarbonization of the European car fleet . The latter, with its 250 million units, is inexorably aging and is failing to adopt the technologies already available today that could guarantee a reduction in CO2 emissions by more than half."

Stellantis brands

The Stellantis group saw three models in the top ten best-selling cars in Italy in July. Specifically, the Fiat Panda remains the best-selling vehicle, with 8,935 units sold. It is followed by the Jeep Avenger and the Peugeot 208. The Avenger also confirmed its position as Italy's best-selling SUV in the first seven months of 2025 (with a 5.6% share), as well as the leader among 100% electric B-SUVs (in this case, the market share is close to 20%). Furthermore, according to Dataforce, the month of July confirmed particularly positive results for the Jeep brand, which holds a market share of over 4.3%, firmly in the top ten of the overall ranking for Italy.

More generally, Stellantis registered 30,797 cars in the country – again according to the company's elaboration on Dataforce figures – 12.1% fewer than the same month in 2024: its market share is 26% compared to 28.1%. In the first seven months of 2025, the group registered 281,454 vehicles, down 11.7% from the same period in 2024: its market share thus falls from 31.5% to 28.9%.

Looking in detail at the brands of the Italian-French group, among the former FCA brands, Alfa Romeo registered 1,953 registrations in July, up 13.68% year-over-year (1.65% share); Jeep 4,938, down 13.82% (4.17% share); Fiat 11,061, up 8.09% (9.33% share); and Lancia 800, down 71.57% (0.68% share). Maserati , on the other hand, counts 182 luxury vehicles were sold, up 13.04% (0.15% market share). Among former PSA brands marketed in Italy, Citroën/DS registered 4,099 vehicles, up 2.32% (3.46% market share), Opel registered 2,739 vehicles, down 34.32% (2.31% market share), and Peugeot registered 4,820 vehicles, down 24.2% (4.07% market share).