Fiat, French, MG boosted by rental car rebound in key vacation markets

French brands Peugeot, Citroen and Renault and Italy's Fiat benefited from a big rebound in rental cars sales last month in three of Europe's most popular vacation destinations.

Rental car sales in April rose 143 percent, 78 percent and 30 percent in Italy, France and Spain, respectively, according to an analysis done by market research Dataforce.

The French market's biggest beneficiaries were Citroen (+195 percent), Renault (+149 percent) and Peugeot (+62 percent).

In Italy, Fiat was the market leader because of a 69 percent gain last month compared to last April, when the rental market was starved of product because multiple factors. Automakers were stung by the start of the war in Ukraine, which made access to wiring harnesses difficult since many of them are made in the country. That along with the shortage of microchips and ongoing COVID-19 disruptions force automakers to prioritize private and fleet sales over the rental channel.

Spain, meanwhile, was led by Volkswagen brand followed by Peugeot and Seat.

When April demand in the three markets was tabulated Peugeot (6,977) was on top followed by Fiat (5,581) and Renault (5,543)

The best sellers for each brand were the Peugeot 208, Fiat 500 and Renault Clio (see table, below).

One of the biggest surprises was MG.

The Chinese automaker placed two models -- the ZS small SUV and HS compact SUV -- in the list of the top 20-sellers in the three markets last month. That helped MG finish April as Europe's No. 9-seller of vehicles based on combined sales in Italy, France and Spain.

Also worth noting the the rise of the SUV in the rental channel. Small and compact SUVs accounted for half of all sales during the period in the three key markets. That is up from less than 25 percent during the months of April in 2016-2019.