MILAN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Italian car sales are expected to post their first annual increase in nearly two and a half years in December, rising up to 3.5 percent thanks to an extra working day, a top executive at Italian car maker Fiat said on Monday.
"In December we will likely see slightly higher Italy car sales numbers due to the fact that there is one more working day," Fiat EMEA head Alfredo Altavilla told journalists on the sidelines of an event.
He said the growth could be up to 3.5 percent. Excluding the impact of the extra working day, Italian car sales would register a small drop this month.
Altavilla also said he hoped the European car market had bottomed out.
New car sales in Italy, Europe's fourth-largest car market, fell 4.5 percent in November from the same month a year ago, data showed this month. Italian car sales last posted an annual rise in August 2011.