Is Italy’s new-car market on the road to success in 2026?

11 March 2026

As increased carmaker competition starts to make waves in Italy’s new-car market, February’s data revealed a strong start to 2026. But which brands and powertrains are pushing things forward, and can this relative prosperity continue? James Roberts, Autovista24 web editor, finds out.

In February, 157,317 new cars were registered in Italy. This resulted in a year-on-year volume increase of 14.1%, according to ANFIA data. This ensured a third month of consecutive growth.

Across the first two months of 2026, a total of 299,308 new cars took to Italy’s roads. This marked a 10.2% lift, helped by a strong showing from electrified powertrains. Despite volumes remaining below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the market shows promise following a difficult 2025.

EV sales prove strong in February

February saw 25,151 new EVs, including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), registered in Italy. This resulted in a significant 91.5% year-on-year uptick.

There was little to split BEV and PHEV popularity in February. All-electric sales amounted to 12,541 units, while PHEVs accounted for 12,610 vehicles. Both powertrains captured 8% of the monthly market share, respectively.

It was PHEVs that saw the biggest year-on-year volume increase, with 102.8% compared to February 2025. However, BEVs were not far behind, with a volume improvement of 81.3%.

In the year to date, plug-in hybrids took a larger market share of 8.1%, up 4 percentage points (pp). This was accompanied by a 116.7% boost in registrations across January and February. BEVs, meanwhile, accounted for 7.3% of the market, a 2.3pp increase, with a 61.3% upswing.

Combined, EV registrations in Italy made up 16% of the market two months into the year, a 6.5pp improvement.

Italy’s EV popularity running on fumes?

On the face of it, the year-on-year EV volume gains appear satisfying. However, February’s figures continued to be raised by the incentive programme rolled out in late 2025. All funds were claimed within 24 hours of the scheme going live, with consumers needing to apply before purchase. This influenced January and February’s latent EV bounce.

For some industry observers, this is not enough to signal a meaningful tilt towards electrification targets. To continue EV market ascendency, and match larger European markets, wider, more sustained policy initiatives are being called for.

‘Electric [uptake] is growing, but we are still far from the averages of the large markets,’ outlined Roberto Pietrantonio, president of UNRAE. ‘Without a structural and stable strategy, Italy will lose competitiveness and appeal. Those who talk about the failure of the electric sector feed misinformation. The real challenge is to govern the transition with industrial vision and reform courage.’

UNRAE recommended three measures aimed at fostering a more robust path towards electrification. These included improving EV charging infrastructure network as well as hydrogen refuelling. Second, charging tariffs should be more consistent with wholesale energy prices. Third, structural reform of company fleet taxation, which is a major complicating factor for businesses.

Cost deductibility, VAT deductibility, and less favourable depreciation rules mean Italy lags behind other major European markets, according to UNRAE. The organisation claimed that reforming these tax policies could encourage companies to renew and electrify fleets. This in turn would speed up the adoption of low and zero-emission vehicles.

‘Clarity is needed,’ UNRAE added. ‘Decarbonisation remains the goal, what is missing is regulatory stability and a multi-year strategy, as in the main European countries, to offer families and businesses a credible horizon.’

Italy’s market disruption

Amid February’s relatively strong plug-in demand, one newcomer stormed into the top 10 best-selling model chart: the Leapmotor T03. This small urban BEV shook up the top 10 in February with 4,778 sales, confirmed by ANFIA data. Taking fourth in the month, the T03 sat just behind three top-selling models from the Stellantis stable.

Across the first two months of this year, the all-electric model saw 5,727 units delivered to customers. This pushed it to seventh in the overall top 10, ahead of the Renault Clio, the Renault Captur, and the Toyota Yaris.

More broadly, Leapmotor enjoyed a 2197.2% year-on-year registration increase in February. This meant that it jumped from 218 unit deliveries in February 2025 to 5,008 one year later. This year, the Chinese OEM‘s lineup in the country will include the T03, the C10 and the B10.  

Last year, Leapmotor CEO Zhu Jiangming targeted global sales of one million units in 2026, Reuters reported. On top of this, he eyed four million annual transactions within a decade, with 60% coming from outside of China. It seems Italy is doing its bit to help achieve this goal.

Non-domestic brand disruption continues

As well as Leapmotor’s increased market influence, other non-European OEMs have started to make considerable waves in Italy.

Following a strong start to the year, BYD saw another month of Italian new-car market gains. The Chinese manufacturer recorded 4,110 registrations in February. This was up from 1,349 sales one year prior, ensuring a 204.7% boost.

Chery has emerged as a notable disruptor in Italy as well. Its Omoda brand enjoyed a 960.9% rise in registrations, leaping from 523 units in February 2025 to 2,960 one year later. Meanwhile, its sister brand, Jaecoo, saw deliveries increase by 266% with 893 cars sold.

Italy’s hybrid domination prevails

February saw hybrids account for over half the country’s new-car market. In all, 81,799 units, spanning full and mild versions, left forecourts. This considerable year-on-year volume increase of 33.9% as the powertrain took a 52% market share, up 7.6pp.

This dominance was reflected two months into 2026 with 156,215 hybrids joining Italy’s car parc, enabling a 52.2% share. This suggests that hybrid popularity remains prevalent, with EVs struggling to make a dent.

Continued hybrid appeal has pushed up the share of electrified registrations in Italy’s new-car market. Adding hybrid volumes to BEV and PHEV totals amounted to 202,427 vehicles across the first two months of the year. This underlined a year-on-year leap of 39.2%.

It also provided electrified vehicles with 67.6% of the overall Italian new-car market. This was a considerable 14pp lift compared with the first two months of 2025. Hybrid figures have been the vanguard of this seismic demand for electrified powertrains so far in 2026. Removing hybrids from the electrified figures drops the share to just 32.3%.

ICE drops but petrol still second best

Internal-combustion engine (ICE) deliveries, including petrol and diesel volumes, continued a pattern of double-digit declines in February. The 42,518 combined sales meant a 14.7% fall and a 27% market share, down 9.1pp. Across January and February, this was reflected in an 18.8% slump and a 36.2% market share. However, despite this continued slide, petrol preference remains a key market force.

Despite a 6.9pp year-on-year decline across January and February, petrol held the second-highest market share in Italy at 19.6%. The petrol share was 11.5pp ahead of PHEVs, and 12.3pp above BEVs, providing a further headache for electrification targets.

As petrol peters out, diesel continues to fall drastically. February saw 10,603 new diesel vehicles reach customers in Italy. This signalled a 22.5% year-on-year unit drop, leaving the fuel type with a 6.7% market share, down 3.2pp.

Including January and February’s figures, diesel sales reached 21,336. This returned a year-on-year volume slide of 19.5% and a market share of 7.1%, down 2.7pp. Despite this, cumulative diesel registrations trailed BEV sales by just 627 after the opening two months of 2026.