France / Italy Mainstream Brand Comparison 2014

Fiat a clear winner in Italy as expected

For every car they sold in Italy during 2014, 1.32 went out the showroom doors in France. That ratio is used in the list below to determine which brands are the more popular in those two nations. Yellow is when cars are more popular in Italy and blue France. Data comes from the CCFA and UNRAE.

Why are more brands popular in Italy? Because the French have a very strong bias toward the three main French brands. Italy doesn't have such a strong presence in that area of mass market brands, with just Fiat as a large selling local. With Dacia French owned too, the level of support for French cars is huge.

Ford and GM Opel are identical in their ratio split between the countries. Considering the French leaning to domestic offerings, Nissan and Honda are two Japanese brands that do get good French support, although in Honda's case, the sales are low for both nations.

Brand	France	Italy	Diff
Lancia	6,105	55,483	0.11
Fiat	45,738	281,582	0.16
Jeep	2,783	11,334	0.25
smart	4,149	15,863	0.26
Subaru	731	2,649	0.28
Ssangyong	344	1,096	0.31
Hyundai	17,165	41,747	0.41
Chevrolet	4,185	7,095	0.59
Opel	61,246	75,626	0.81
Ford	75,090	91,541	0.82
Kia	28,186	32,714	0.86
Suzuki	15,000	15,926	0.94
Mitsubishi	3,496	3,492	1.00
Toyota	66,775	60,780	1.10
Mazda	6,062	5,459	1.11
VW	139,554	110,227	1.27
Nissan	68,072	48,489	1.40
Škoda	20,412	13,165	1.55
Honda	7,091	4,390	1.62
Seat	21,090	12,553	1.68
Dacia	102,519	38,087	2.69
Peugeot	305,015	71,307	4.28
Renault	353,906	81,431	4.35
Citroën	231,131	53,091	4.35

Renault captures a strong following a home