Italy Car Sales Fiat vs The Rest : 1955-59

The Fiat 1100 came out in 1953 and an attractive car for its day.

I managed to find sales figures for Fiat from way back in the mists of time. Well, the late 50's at least. The Italian market was protected from imports and the Fiat brand reigned supreme. In 1955 it held a staggering 92% of the total sales! I suppose the locals were just happy to afford a car at all after the ravages of war in the 1940's.

Europe was on the up in the late 1950's and things were getting back to normal. Sales in 1950 had been just under 80,000 cars and by 1955, that had over doubled. Another 80,000 sales were added in the next four years too, but even greater growth took place in the 1960's as a future article will reveal.

3.9 million of the Nuova 500 (1957-75) were made

Fiat was growing nicely in this time but not at the pace of the market. It would be impossible to maintain that sort of share, but by 1959 holding about 80% was still huge. Only having one major brand in the country was the reason, coupled with stiff import duties.

Year	Fiat	Rest	Total	% Fiat
1955	148,400	13,500	161,900	91.7%
1956	183,900	18,500	202,400	90.9%
1957	169,300	26,200	195,500	86.6%
1958	169,500	39,700	209,200	81.0%
1959	201,700	51,600	253,300	79.6%