The Fiat 500 has broken into the Top 10 best sellers list in the UK for the first time since its launch in January last year. The Fiat 500 sold 2,989 units last month – well up on the 993 sold in October last year. That makes it the 10th best-seller in the UK last month.

The Fiat 500 has broken into the Top 10 best sellers list in the UK for the first time since its launch in January last year. The Fiat 500 sold 2,989 units last month – well up on the 993 sold in October last year – according to official figures, just supplied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). That makes it the 10th best-seller in the UK last month.

Fiat’s 6,570 sales result for October was 117.50 percent up on the 3,020 unit figure for the same period last year, in a market that was sharply up by 31.62 percent (128,362 units) – a result which follows a particularly strong September performance, in which Fiat sales were up 19.3 percent in a market that was up by just 11.4 percent. October was the strongest month yet this year for the overall UK market. The growth, from a weak base in 2008, reflects the positive impact on registrations from the Scrappage Incentive Scheme. The market had been expected to grow, on a 23 percent fall last October, but recovery was better than expected. Volumes were 3.9 percent ahead of the 1999-2008 average for the month of 162,658 units.

It all meant that Fiat's share of October sales climbed by more than one-and-a-half percentage points year-on-year: 2.35 to 3.89 percent. Meanwhile with 693 sales Alfa Romeo was up 92.50 percent year-on-year last month and its share of the market for the month climbed from 0.28 to 0.41 percent. Abarth, Fiat's sporty niche derivative brand, sold 158 cars last month in the UK but its year-on-year data isn't reliable yet due to the dealer roll-out that has gone on since its launch last summer. Fiat's new North American alliance partner, Chrysler Group, had a very mixed month, the Chrysler brand was up an impressive 80.15 percent in October (245 units) while Jeep made up 35.48 percent (168 units), Dodge however let the side down and it lost 35.61 percent (170 units). The Chrysler and Dodge brands will soon be removed from the UK market leaving just Jeep to represent the Chrysler Group.

After the first ten months of the year the UK market has seen 1,922,771 cars sold, leaving it down 12.32 percent year-on-year. Fiat has 48,864 sales so far this year which outperforms the overall market but leaves it very slightly in negative territory, down 1.68 percent year-on-year, Fiat’s year-to-date market share however has risen from 2.58 percent to 2.90 percent. Alfa Romeo however is one of the markets biggest winners for the year-to-date, its 7,828 units to the end of last month leaves it up a healthy 43.84 percent on the same period last year. Abarth meanwhile has sold 1,131 of its two model range for the year-to-date. Chrysler Group has had a tough year, after the first ten months the Chrysler brand (5,373 units) is down 56.63 percent, Dodge (3,575 units) has lost 36.16 percent and Jeep (3,769 units) has shed 47.12 percent.

“This is an incredible result for the Fiat 500 which we are, of course, delighted with,” says Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd. “Interest in this car has been sky high ever since we launched it here less than two years ago. The popularity of this superb vehicle speaks for itself and, with the launch this summer of the fantastic 500C, and the option of Start&Stop bringing further environmental benefits to the range, we’re sure we will see the Fiat 500 making even greater inroads into the UK small car market.” Available with a choice of three frugal, ultra-low emissions, Euro 5-ready engines: 69 bhp 1.2-litre and 100bhp 1.4-litre petrol, or 75 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel, the new Fiat 500 can be ordered in three different trim levels – Pop, Sport and Lounge. With a starting price of £8,700 on-the-road, the Fiat 500 represents outstanding value for money and positions the car below benchmark rivals. Top-of-the-range Lounge versions start at £10,100 – a price that includes alloy wheels and air conditioning as standard.

Overall market demand over the first ten months of the year in the UK though is still 12.3 percent or 236,790 units down on last year. Registrations are expected to continue to grow in the final two months of the year, ending 2009 at 1.928 million units, some 200,000 units shy of 2008's total. Private registrations are almost doubled on the 2008 outturn and year-to-date volumes are now 3.3 percent above last year’s level. Year-to-date fleet and business demand remains subdued.

Ford’s Fiesta was the best selling model in the month, for the eighth time in 2009. Seven of the top ten best sellers in October were in the mini or supermini segment, including the Fiat 500 in tenth place. Registrations of small cars have been boosted by the scrappage scheme and impact of new models. The mini segment rose by 200 percent in October and the supermini segment was up 47.9 percent. Several other segments also posted growth in the month. Alternatively fuelled vehicle registrations rose strongly for a second successive month (+42.9 percent), helped by new and revised models. Diesel penetration fell again, as the small cars the scrappage scheme tends to favour are predominantly petrol-engined. The Fiat 500 had another boost in the UK when it was recently voted Best Supermini by the readers of What Car? magazine.