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Fiat
was able to outperform the Italian new vehicle
market's 6.16 percent year-on-year rise in July,
the dominant domestic carmaker selling 68,944
cars last month, led by strong performances by
the Fiat and Lancia brands, which all added up
to equate to a 10.99 percent year-on-year
improvement. A total of 204,905 new cars were
sold in Italy last month compared to 193,018
during July 2008, according to data released by
automotive trade body UNRAE.
Fiat
Group's 68,944 units sold in July was up more
than six and a half thousand on last year's
62,115 and meant that its share of the total
Italian market rose from 32.18 to 33.65 percent.
The biggest chunk of this came from the Fiat
brand (including Abarth) which saw 52,980 cars
sold as Italian consumers took advantage of the
government-subsidised 'scrappage' scheme, and
the new 500 C started to arrive in the showrooms
in time for the summer rush for convertibles.
Lancia continued to show impressive resilience
and it posted a strong performance, up 22.13
percent to 10,624 units. Alfa Romeo however
couldn't complete the buoyant picture for Fiat
Group Automobiles (FGA) as it shed 12.82 percent
year-on-year after selling 5,207 of its sporty
cars, its fall attributable to a recent market
slump in demand for D-segment cars, which hit
the Alfa 159, as well as the gradual tailing off
of Alfa 147 sales as its successor gears up to
make its debut. This all meant that the Fiat
brand increased its share of the Italian market
in July from 24.48 to 25.86 percent
year-on-year, Lancia jumped from 4.51 to 5.18
percent while Alfa Romeo contracted from 3.09 to
2.54 percent. The Fiat group's specialist
luxury/performance brands had a difficult July,
Ferrari's 75 units was down 16 percent while
Maserati's 70 was down 41.67 percent.
Fiat's new U.S. alliance partner Chrysler Group
LLC continued its rapid recent collapse of
European-wide sales last month in Italy, and the
fresh-from-bankruptcy carmaker was down a
massive 74.98 percent year-on-year after
shifting just 543 units combined across its
three brands. This meagre total was split up
between Chrysler (74 units, -89.95 percent),
Dodge (230 units, -59.15 percent) and Jeep (239
units, -72.56 percent)
After the first seven months of the year the
Fiat Group accounts for 466,997 registrations in
Italy (466,698 for Jan-Jul 2008), which means
its year-on-year drop is whittled down to just
4.22 percent while its share of the overall
market (which is down 8.33 percent for the
year-to-date) climbs from 32.05 to 33.49
percent. The Fiat brand has sold 347,326
vehicles so far this year which puts it down
5.80 percent. Its market share climbed though,
from 25.32 to 26.02 percent. Lancia weighs in
with 62,939 registrations which is down just
1.42 percent, but its share also rises rises,
this time from 4.32 to 4.65 percent, while Alfa
Romeo has 36,668 sales for the year-to-date
which leaves it down 8 percent, and its market
share is up year-on-year too, from 2.33 to 2.75
percent. Of the niche brands, Ferrari has 506
sales for the year-to-date while Maserati is on
586.
The
Punto (including Grande Punto and Punto Classic)
was Italy's best selling car during July, adding
a further 18,706 units while the Panda was
second with 15,795 units and the 500 with 6,933
registrations was fourth, with the interloper
into the top-quartet being Ford's Fiesta
(9,649). Also in the top ten best seller's last
month was Lancia's Ypsilon in seventh place,
with 5,114 registrations. For the year-to-date
the Punto (110,753) is also Italy's best seller,
just over three thousand units ahead of the
Panda (107,558). The Fiat 500 (54,545) in fourth
and the Lancia Ypsilon (30,545) in eighth rounds
out FGA's representation in the Italian top-ten
best-sellers for the first seven months of the
year. The Punto was also Italy's best selling
diesel car in July with 6,237 units, while for
the year-to-date it also tops the best-selling
diesels with 33,139 units.
In
A-segment the Panda and 500 were clear leaders
at the top during July with Chevrolet's Matiz
(3,125) a distant third. Also appearing on the
best-seller list in A-segment last month was the
elderly 600, it squeezed into the last spot in
the top-ten with 1,230 units. In B-segment the
Punto was top and the Ypsilon fourth, while
Lancia gained an extra representative as the
Musa (3,801) locked out seventh spot. Also
making its presence felt in B-segment was the
Alfa MiTo (2,926) in tenth. For the year-to-date
the MiTo has 19,106 sales putting it one place
ahead of the Musa which has has amassed 16,485
sales after seven months. In C-segment the
Bravo's recent resurgent sales form was pegged
back, it's 3,856 units in July leaving it well
adrift of its two key rivals, the VW Golf
(6,323) and Ford Focus (4,495). Lancia's Delta
added an extra 1,155 units in July to claim the
ninth best-selling slot in C-segment. After the
first seven months of the year the Bravo is on
25,327 units which places it third in the
category, while the Delta (13,757) is in sixth
place.
In
D-segment demand was sluggish and the Alfa 159
suffered more than most, the 1,087 units it
shifted in July dropping it down to seventh
place and leaving it a handful of sales ahead of
the Fiat Croma (1,067) although the
segment-topping Audi A4 managed only 2,072
units. For the year-to-date the Alfa 159 is on
8,994 units which represents half last year's
total sales by this point of the year (16,618).
The Fiat Croma has 7,449 sales for the
year-to-date to rank it fifth in D-segment.
Elsewhere the Fiat Multipla (880) was fifth in
the compact MPV class, the MiTo easily topped
Italian coupé car sales (2,926 compared to 284
for its nearest rival, the Audi A5), the Sedici
(201) was fifth amongst crossover cars, while in
'Multispace' the Qubo (1,952) led out the Doblò
(521) at the top of the rankings and for the
year-to-date these two are comfortably in charge
in the segment for passenger versions of light
vans with 8,720 and 3,241 units respectively.
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