ROME (Reuters) -Sales of new cars in Italy rose in September after four months of decline, increasing by 4.07% year-on-year, Italian transport ministry data showed on Wednesday.
Total sales for the month stood at 126,679 vehicles.
In the first nine months of the year, however, new car sales were down 2.9% year-on-year to 1.17 million units, the ministry said.
Market leader Stellantis, whose brands include Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot, outperformed most rivals in September, with year-on-year sales up 15.3%, according to Reuters calculations.
The Franco-Italian automaker’s market share rose to 26.9% compared to 26.2% in August, according to the same calculations.
Fiat kept its position as Italy’s most popular car brand, with a September market share of 9.7%, and sales up by more than 35% year-on-year.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones)
