(Alliance News) - The Italian auto market has not yet emerged from its pandemic crisis.
As Corriere della Sera points out on Friday, 2024 closed with just over 1.5 million sales, stable compared to 2023 but 19 percent lower than 2019: nearly 360,000 registrations are missing.
The causes? High prices, declining purchasing power, transition to electric-only 4.2% of the market-and low interest among young people.
Stellantis NV suffers more than others: in 2024, registrations fell 10 percent to 454,000 units, with market share down from 32 percent to 29 percent. Fiat, in particular, lost 41 percent, overtaken by Dacia and Renault.
In contrast, Asian groups advanced, with Toyota up 25 percent and Kia and MG each up 32 percent. MG, led by China's SAIC, is spearheading the Chinese expansion, with BYD showing signs of rapid growth while starting from minimal shares.
Globally, BYD is closing in on Tesla in the electric market: 1.76 million units versus 1.79 million. Tesla, however, saw a drop in deliveries for the first time since 2011 - by 1.1 percent - and the stock lost more than 8 percent on the stock market. Despite this, the Texas-based company, thanks to its technological image, dominates the financial markets with a valuation of nearly EUR1.2 trillion, far higher than all European companies added together and equal to 32 times Stellantis.
Investors see Tesla as a leader in innovations such as autonomous vehicles and robotaxis, driven in part by Donald Trump's promise of deregulation. Since the Republican tycoon's reelection, Tesla's shares have risen 40 percent, thanks mainly to small traders, mobilized by Musk's huge social following. Someone who had invested USD1,000 in Tesla in 2010 would today have over USD250,000 versus only USD22 in gains from a similar investment in General Motors.
By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter
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