Fiat and Lancia both turned in a strong sales performances last month in their key domestic market. August is a period that is generally very quiet for car sales in Italy as much of the country takes off for a month's holiday. However this year new car registrations were up by a healthy 12.69 pct to 97,048 vehicles (compared with 86,118 in August 2004).

This strong showing helped to eat into a gloomy year for the Italian automotive sector. After eight months registrations are down 3.15 pct year-on-year with 1,536,538 vehicles sold (as opposed to 1,586,458 in Jan-Aug 2004) the Italian Ministry of Transport has revealed.

Fiat Auto's combined market share Including Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia) slid very slightly to 27.50 pct (from 28.38 pct in August 2004).

The Fiat brand - who are new counting down the days to the arrival of the new Grande Punto - saw registrations rise by 16.42 pct after 20,279 Fiat-branded vehicles hit the Italian roads (17,419 in August 2004). This gave them a market share of 20.90 pct (slightly up from 20.23 pct year-on-year). The performance was aided by the arrival of the new Croma which is generating healthy orders, and another sterling showing from the LCV division. With the all-new Grande Punto officially launched in just four days time - a glitzy presentation at the Turin Palavela is planned - Fiat seems to have turned the corner and registrations are expected to rise towards the close of the year.
 

Alfa Romeo had another flat month with 2,354 new cars registered to give Fiat's "sporty" brand a 2.43 pct Italian market share (last August Alfa Romeo sold 3,642 cars to claim a 4.23 pct slice of the market). With customer ordering of the eagerly-awaited new Alfa 159 sedan having just got underway last Monday - this styling and exciting car which is set to be a cornerstone of their recovery drive - is expected to be rapidly rolled out across the major European markets.

Lancia - as is now usual - had an excellent month. Fiat's "luxury" brand shifted 4,050 car to claim 4.17 pct of the Italian market. (In August 2004 Lancia sold 3,372 cars - a 3.92 pct share). The stylish Musa again exceeded expectations, ably complementing the highly popular Ypsilon.

The three big winners on the Italian market last month were VW, up by 52.61 pct to 7,278 vehicles registered, GM's Opel brand, up 18.22 pct (7,074 vehicles), and Toyota (including the Lexus brand) which climbed by 15.51 pct (5,213 vehicles). The main losers were Citroen (down 11.86 pct) and Ford (down 8.71 pct).