Diesel demand for road vehicles fell 5.7 percent to 2.23 million tonnes last month, while petrol consumption dropped 12.1 percent to 0.84 million tonnes, UP said in a statement.

New car sales fell 10.7 percent last month, but the share of new vehicles registered as diesel-powered rose to 56.3 percent of the total from 50.4 percent in July 2010, said UP, which represents major national and foreign refiners and oil product distributors working in Italy.

Consumption of refined oil products in Italy edged 0.6 percent lower year on year to 42.24 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2011, with car fuel demand down 0.9 percent, UP said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011