The headline is the only good news in this article; as was expected, the Italian market decreased by 19.9% compared to 2011 with 1,4 million sold cars in 2012. 1979 was the last year with a comparable drop. December wasn’t exactly a festive month with -22,5% and 86.735 sold vehicles. The Italians are calling 2012 ‘Annus horribilis’ in good Latin. The number of orders for this month are again depressing (-26,5%), meaning early 2013 doesn’t promise a lot of improvement.

Fiat Group Automobiles sold 415.288 cars in Italy last year, or a decrease of 19,51%. The market share, however, did increase by 0,2% to 29,62%. Lingotto is thus doing rather well in its home country, though this news still isn’t cheerful.