Fiat Auto turned in another impressive sales performance right across Europe last month, with sales up 55.1 pct. Fiat branded vehicle registrations were up by 59.9 pct, while Alfa Romeo were up 44.9 pct and Lancia 41.2 pct, according to data released this morning by European automotive manufacturer trade body ACEA. Overall Fiat Auto saw its market share climb by 2.3 percentage points from 5.5 pct in May 2005 to 7.8 pct last month, the carmaker still closing rapidly in on Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's 8 pct overall European market target. The figures for Fiat were particularly affected though by a strike by Italian car transporter drivers' which severely hit deliveries on their domestic market during the equivalent period a year ago.

The new car markets climbed across Europe in May with total registrations up 9.6 pct year-on-year after 1,422,408 vehicles hit the roads last month. The figures are slightly distorted though, and while already counting in the effects of the car transporter drivers' strike, most major countries also had one or two extra working days last month compared to May 2005. However the figures includes data from all the 23 EU member nations plus the EFTA signatories which adds up to make more impressive reading as Fiat Auto is particularly underexposed in the seven recent new EU member countries. Fiat Auto though was the big winner across Europe with its sales up by 59.9 pct, more than double that of any other carmaking group. Of the top-ten big sellers, Toyota (including Lexus) were up 22.3 pct, while the VW/Audi Group was up 12.7 pct and DaimlerChrysler up 12.5 pct.

Separating the three Fiat Auto brands, Fiat-branded vehicle sales (including LCV) accounted for 85,093 new vehicles, comparing favourably to 53,210 sold in May 2005.
 

This was led by the continuing success of the Grande Punto (which now has an order book of 270,000 units) and equated to a rise of 59.9 pct and lifted the Fiat brand's overall market share from 4.1 to 6.0 pct. The new four-wheel-drive Sedici, which has achieved 18,000 orders during its first two months on sale out of a first year target of 20,000 units, is also contributing to Fiat's recent successes, as was a bumper May for the LCV division in Italy.

The Alfa Romeo brand also but on a strong spurt with 14,400 new registrations last month as opposed to 9,940 in May 2005, a climb of 44.9 pct which saw their overall market share rise from 0.8 to 1.0 pct. The Alfa 159 saloon, which has taken 50,000 orders in 8 months out of a first year target of 80,000 units, is now being joined in the showrooms across Europe by the new Sportwagon version. Lancia rounded out the excellent showing from the Auto Division with 11,305 new vehicles registered last month, up from 8,008 year-on-year, which added up to a 0.2 pct point rise year-on-year to 0.8 pct.

For the first 5 months of the year Fiat has now shifted a total of 537,126 vehicles (439,469 in Jan-May 2005), a 22.2 pct year-on-year increase. Market share for the year to date stands at 7.9 pct, up from 6.6 pct in Jan-May 2005. Fiat-branded vehicles account for 412,194 units this year (320,758 Jan-May 2005) a 28.5 pct year-on-year rise, Alfa Romeo with 66,686 units (60,815 Jan-May 2005) up 9.7 pct year-on-year, and Lancia 56,115 units (55,183 Jan-May 2005) up 1.7 pct year-on-year round out a rosy picture. The Fiat brand's overall share of the for the first five months is 6.0 pct of the total European market, Alfa Romeo now stand on 1.0 pct, with Lancia just behind with a 0.8 pct share.