Group total market share in March rose to 31.4%, an increase of 5.5 percentage points with respect to March 2008; its performance reflected improvements in branded scooters (39.1% market share, +6.4 percentage points from March 2008), branded motorcycles (5.5% market share, +1 point from March 2008), 50cc scooters (Piaggio Group share 48.9%, +0.9 points from March 2008) and 50cc motorcycles (a 22.7% share, +0.3 percentage points from March of last year).

Specifically, Group growth stemmed from impressive performance on the Piaggio, Vespa and Aprilia scooter ranges, which in March placed an impressive 5 models in the “top 10” of branded scooter families – Liberty, Beverly, Scarabeo, Vespa GTS and LX – while Piaggio Liberty 125 ranked as the second best-selling vehicle overall in Italy in March.

Among the Group motorcycle brands, although demand on the market as a whole declined, interesting improvements in market share were recorded both for Aprilia, which rose to 3.3% (+0.9 percentage points from March 2008), chiefly thanks to the success of the Dorsoduro; and for Moto Guzzi, which rose to 2% (+0.2 points from March 2008), as a result of the success of the V7 models.

Thanks to its excellent performance in March, Piaggio Group overall market share in Italy in the first quarter of 2009 rose to 28.3%, an increase of 2 percentage points from the year-earlier first quarter. Specifically, with regard to Q1 2008, the Group reported a 4.1 percentage point increase in branded scooters and a 0.2 percentage point increase in motorcycles.