The Fiat 500 was Italy's fourth best selling car during April with 7,353 units registered and for the year-to-date it is a similar story as it is the fourth most in demand car with 32,859 examples of the Car of the Year 2008 winner having found buyers. In the "Multispace" category the Fiat Fiorino (659) - above- and Fiat Doblò (291) locked out the top two positions in April and it is a similar story for the year-to-date with 2,854 and 1,819 units being registered respectively for the passenger lugging versions of the popular light commercial vans. In C-segment the Fiat Bravo (3,844) was the second best seller to the VW Golf in Italy last month, and for the year-to-date the Bravo accounts for 12,231 registrations.

Fiat posted a excellent month of new vehicle sales in Italy during April as customers once again favoured its smaller, more efficient models, and with 66,407 cars registered the domestic giant comfortably cushioned itself against the market's overall fall to take 35.35 percent of all sales.

The whole Italian market saw 188,406 new vehicle registrations last month which meant it was down 7.53 percent year-on-year (203,750 registrations in April 2008). And with 66,407 vehicles registered last month, as opposed to 68,476 during the same month a year ago, Fiat Group was down just 3.02 percent which was in fact less that half the total market's fall. The result which came thanks to very strong performances across the Fiat Group Automobiles' divisions was mainly thanks to government incentives that saw Italian car buyers heading back into the showrooms and favouring the domestic carmaker's smaller, more modern and highly efficient models. This all meant that the Fiat Group's share of the overall market Italian climbed from 33.61 to 35.25 pct year-on-year.

The Fiat brand (including the Fiat Professional division's passenger carrying vehicles and the Abarth brand) saw 51,578 units registered during April, putting it down 3.91 percent on the same month last year when 53,676 cars were sold. Lancia turned in a hugely impressive April, it saw 9,100 registrations across its narrow range which compared positively to the 8,959 units it shifted a year ago and which put it up 1.57 percent. Meanwhile Alfa Romeo also cushioned itself against the overall market's drop, with 5,582 registrations last month compared to 5,709 in April 2008 it lost just 2.22 pct. This meant that last month the Fiat brand increased its market share from 26.34 to 27.34 pct year-on-year, Lancia was up from 4.40 to 4.83 pct, and Alfa Romeo competed a positive picture by raising its national participation from 2.80 to 2.96 pct. Of the Group's niche brands Ferrari saw 81 sales in April compared to 67 a year ago (of which 30 were the new California model) while Maserati was almost unchanged with 66 deliveries of its two-model range in April compared to 65 a year ago.

The Italian market has seen 728,167 new vehicles registered so far this year which puts it a hefty 16.35 pct down on the opening four months of 2008 thanks to the effects of the global financial crisis that is hitting carmaker's hard. For the year-to-date the Fiat Group has 240,845 registrations, compared to 276,351 during the same period last year, which puts it down 12.85 pct year-on-year but raises its share of the Italian market for the first four months of the year from 31.75 to 33.08 pct. The Fiat brand has 188,121 registrations for the year-to-date which puts it down 15.52 pct year-on-year but raises its share of the market from 25.58 to 25.83 pct. Lancia accounts for 31,949 registrations for year-to-date as all its models find favour with buyers, putting it down 12.43 pct but raises its market share from 4.19 to 4.38 pct year-on-year. Alfa Romeo meanwhile is on 20,201 cars after the first four months, more than half of which come from the new MiTo model range, and its up 21.79 pct which raises its total market slice from 1.91 to 2.77 pct.

The ever-popular Fiat Punto asserted itself at the top of the best sellers in Italy during April with 18,272 units registered putting it clear of the Fiat Panda (16,564) and the Fiat 500 (7,353) in fourth. The new Ford Fiesta (9,706) split the Panda and 500 last month. Also in the top-10 for FGA was the Lancia Ypsilon (4,826) in seventh, while the Fiat Bravo (3,796) made a welcome reappearance in the top-10 in ninth place. For the year-to-date the Panda accounts for 57,692 sales in Italy, the Punto (57,244) is breathing down its neck in second place, while the 500 (32,859) is in fourth place. Also in the top-10 for year-to-date is the Ypsilon (15,773) in eighth place. The Punto was Italy's best-selling diesel model in April with 5,267 units leaving the showrooms fitted with the Multijet turbodiesel while it is also the clear oil-burning favourite for the year so far with 17,709 units.

The surge in demand for LPG- and methane-powered cars has also given Fiat's efficient range a boost this year. The Panda saw 2,808 units specified in LPG format finding customers last month making it the second most popular gas-powered car on the market with the Punto (2,549) third and the Bravo (1,477) fourth. For the year-to-date the Panda has seen 5,555 LPG versions hit the Italian streets putting it in second place while the Punto (4,918) and the Bravo (2,257) are fourth and ninth respectively. However they are all a long way shy of the category's star performer, Chevrolet's Matiz, which accounted for 3,150 LPG sales last month and is now into five figure sales (10,507) for the year-to-date. Amongst the methane-propelled cars FGA had a top-3 lock out during April with the Punto (6,103), Panda (5,924) and Fiat Multipla (524) leading demand, while the Fiat Doblò (45) rounds out last month's top-10. For the year-to-date it is a similar picture with the Panda (20,028) comfortably clear at the top ahead of the Punto (16,665) and Multipla (2,629). The Doblò (263) also makes it into the top-10 for the first four months of the year, in eighth place.

In the segments the Panda and 500 were clear leaders at the top of A-segment for April while it was a similar story for the Punto in B-segment; pleasingly for Fiat both the Panda and Punto's year-on-year sales are sharply up. The Alfa MiTo (3,337) was the sixth best-seller in B-segment last month, one place behind the Ypsilon, and Alfa's sporty new coupé has amassed 10,433 sales so far this year. In C-segment the Bravo (3,844) was second best seller to the VW Golf, and for the year-to-date the Bravo accounts for 12,231 registrations. Lancia's Delta (2,085) was fourth best-seller in C-segment last month, and it now has found 8,004 buyers during the first four months of the year. In D-segment the Alfa 159 (969) and Fiat Croma (749) occupied fourth and eighth places respectively, while for the year to date the 159 (4,942) and Croma (4,567) are in third and fourth places. The leaders in D-segment for April and for the year-to-date are the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series. Elsewhere the Lancia Musa (2,605) was the best-selling small MPV in April, while for the year-to-date it is on 7,353 registrations; and in Multispace the Fiat Fiorino (659) and Doblò (291) locked out the top two positions in April and it is a similar story for the year-to-date with 2,854 and 1,819 units being registered respectively for the passenger lugging versions of the popular light commercial vans.