AUTOITALO

The Italian automotive industry started in the late 1880s, with the Stefanini-Martina regarded as the first manufacturer. In October 1898 he co-founded Ceirano GB & C with his brothers Matteo, and Ernesto to build the Welleyes motor car. As they encountered challenges of scale and finance they contacted a consortium of local nobility and business-men led by Giovanni Agnelli and in July 1899 Fiat SpA purchased the plant, design, and patents – so producing the first F.I.A.T. – the Fiat 4 HP. The Welleyes / F.I.A.T 4 HP had a 679 cc engine and was capable of 35 km/h (22 mph). 

In October 1898 he co-founded Ceirano GB & C with his brothers Matteo, and Ernesto to build the Welleyes motor car. As they encountered challenges of scale and finance they contacted a consortium of local nobility and businessmen led by Giovanni Agnelli and in July 1899 Fiat SpA purchased the plant, design, and patents – so producing the first F.I.A.T. – the Fiat 4 HP. The Welleyes / F.I.A.T 4 HP had a 679 cc engine and was capable of 35 km/h (22 mph).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Italy restored its large auto industry that was 3rd or 4th in Europe and 5th or 6th in the World. In the 1980s Italy overtook the United Kingdom but conceded to the Soviet Union that, like Spain, Poland, and Yugoslavia, found large-volume production of cars with Italian FIAT help.

The 1970s and 1980s were a time of great change for the car industry in Europe. Rear-wheel drive, particularly on family cars, gradually gave way to front-wheel drive. The hatchback body style, first seen on the Renault 16 from France in 1965, became the most popular body style on smaller cars by the mid-1980s. Fiat moved into the hatchback market at the small car end in 1971 with the 127 hatchback, followed by the Ritmo family car in 1978. By the end of the decade, the more upmarket Alfa Romeo and Lancia marques had also added hatchbacks to their ranges. The Italian motor industry's flair for innovative design continued in the 1980s, with its Uno supermini (1983) and Tipo family hatchback (1988) both being voted European Car of the Year mostly in recognition of their up-to-date and practical designs. The Uno was one of the most popular cars in Europe throughout its production life, although the Tipo was not so popular outside Italy.

The Uno's replacement, the Punto, was launched at the end of 1993 and achieved similar success to its predecessor, while its earlier Cinquecento played a big part in boosting the size of the city car sector in Europe during the 1990s. It entered the new compact MPV market in 1998 with the quirky six-seater Multipla, having already entered the full-size MPV market halfway through the decade with the Eurovan as part of a venture with Peugeot.

In the 1990s Italian auto industry became again 3rd in Europe and 5th in the World with an annual output near 2 million (with 2,220,774 maximum in 1989). But in 2011 it fell below 800,000 for the first time in half a century and is now 6th place in Europe and 19th place in the World.

Today Italy is one of the top five automobile manufacturers in the world, Fiat is the largest manufacturer with over 90% of Italy's automotive production.