(Finance) – In March 2024, according to ISTAT data, the production of the Italian automotive industry as a whole it records a 17.5% drop compared to March 2023, while in the first quarter of 2024 it decreased by 9.7%. Looking at the individual production sectors of the sector, the motor vehicle manufacturing index (Ateco code 29.1) recorded a negative trend variation of 20.7% in March 2024 and decreased by 9% in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023 ; that of the manufacturing of bodywork for motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (Ateco code 29.2) grew by 34.4% in the month and by 19.8% cumulatively, and that of the manufacturing of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines fell by 17% in March and 16.4% in the January-March 2024 period.
According to the preliminary data from ANFIA, there domestic production of cars only to March 2024 amounts to approximately 39 thousand units, in drop of 31.3% compared to March 2023. In the cumulative quarter, however, 112 thousand cars were produced, down by
21.1% on January-March 2023. The total number of vehicles produced in the quarter, however, amounted to 212 thousand units and recorded a decrease of 3.2% compared to the same period of 2023. The automotive production sector is placed in the context of a industrial production
overall Italian production still decreasing in March 2024 compared to the levels of the second month of last year: the index of industrial production as a whole closes, in fact, at -3.5% both in the month and in the first quarter of the current year compared at the same time in 2023.
The industry turnover strictly speaking (excluding the Construction sector) records a positive change of 1.3% in February 2024, latest data available (+0.4% on the domestic market and +3.2% on foreign markets) and closes the first two months of the year at +0.3%
(-0.2% the domestic market and +1.3% the foreign markets).
“After the slight recovery in February (+1.6%), in March the Italian automotive production index recorded a heavy double-digit decline, -17.5% – he states Gianmarco Giorda, general director of ANFIA – and the first quarter of the year closes with a negative sign (-9.7%).
The motor vehicle manufacturing index also returns to decline in the month (-20.7%), thanks to the double-digit contraction, -31.3%, recorded, according to preliminary data from ANFIA, in the production of cars, while the index of parts production and
accessories for motor vehicles and their engines maintains the negative trend since the beginning of the year (-17%). The Automotive Development Roundtable at MIMIT is drawing to a close: we are, in fact, in the phase of implementing measures to support productive investments and
business innovation. On the local production front, the objective is an increase in volumes by manufacturers, through the maintenance and allocation of models that focus on Italy. In reference to production competitiveness, the objective is to improve the main factors of industrial competitiveness in our country, from energy to digitalisation, to mention
two of the most important.”
In January 2024 (latest data available), the export of motor vehicles (new cars and industrial vehicles) valid from Italy 1.5 billion euros, while imports are worth 3 billion euros. There Germany represents, in value, the first export destination country
motor vehicles from Italy, with a share of 19%, followed by United States (17.3%) e Franksa (12.8%). In the same period, the export of automotive components was worth 2.1 billion euros, with a positive balance of 606.8 million euros.
The turnover of the automotive sector overall it showed growth of 12.3% in February (latest data available), thanks to a foreign component rising by 19.6% and a domestic component at +4.5%. In the first two months of 2024, turnover increases
instead of 7.7% (-1% domestic turnover and +16% foreign turnover). Finally, the turnover of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines shows a positive trend variation of 5% in February (+2.5% the domestic component and +8.1% the foreign component). In the period January-February 2024, the turnover index of this sector recorded an increase of 1.6%, with a decrease of 3.2% in
internal component and a growth of 7.2% in the foreign component.