21.05.2010 FIAT PANDA AMONGST EUROPE'S TOP-TEN BEST SELLERS FOR APRIL

FIAT PANDA 4X4

The A-segment Panda carried Fiat's sales hopes across Europe during a difficult April, it was the brand's best selling model for the month with 20,958 finding buyers as it just squeezed its way into the top-ten best-selling models.

The Panda carried Fiat's sales hopes across Europe during a difficult April, it was the brand's best selling model for last month with 20,958 finding buyers as it just squeezed its way into the top-ten best-selling models. The data comes from automotive research body JATO Dynamics.

April was a difficult month for Fiat Automobiles according to JATO Dynamics. With 70,952 units sold it was down 28.6 percent year-on-year to become the sixth best-selling brand in Europe for the period, ten thousand units shy of GM's Vauxhall/Opel unit in fifth place and twenty thousand away from fourth placed Ford, both of which were down almost 20 percent year-on-year.

April’s biggest year-on-year winners were Renault and Peugeot, with the French brands doing very well in their still-growing home market and in particular in Spain. The effects of these rising sales were magnified by the relatively poor performance of most of their key rivals, many of whom are more dependent on Germany, Italy and UK for sales. Ford has been the greatest casualty of this shift in sales, dropping to fourth place in the brand table for April, although it remains second in year-to-date sales.

Fiat only had one representative amongst the best-selling models last month as the Punto slipped out of its customary top-ten position, despite the recent B-segment contender's comprehensive 'EVO' facelift last autumn, primarily due to the weakness of the Italian and German markets. Instead it was left to the Panda to uphold Fiat Automobiles' honours. The former Car of the Year award winning A-segment market leader was down nine thousand units and 29.7 percent year-on-year to 20,958 although for the year-to-date its tally of 96,325 registrations cushions it much more, the Panda being down just 5.6 percent on the same four month period last year.

Only three models were up year-on-year amongst the best-selling top ten, two came from Renault while Vauxhall/Opel's new Astra provided beleaguered GM with a fillip. Renault’s success was driven mostly by Clio sales, which rose particularly in France (up 63.7 percent), although the Mégane also returned strong sales in secondary Western European markets, such as Belgium. National rival Peugeot also performed strongly at home, augmented by strong sales in Spain, for both 308 and 207 (up 37.1 percent and 65.2 percent, respectively). Ford's Fiesta – which benefitted from strong Italy and UK sales in March – suffered as sales in these markets dipped, allowing the VW Golf to take back the European top spot.

Brand Performance Europe - April 2010

Make Apr_10 Apr_09 % Change Apr Apr YtD_10 Apr YtD_09 % Change YtD
VOLKSWAGEN 142,037 153,223 -7.3% 546,651 525,428 +4.0%
RENAULT 100,209 85,491 +17.2% 423,752 321,582 +31.8%
PEUGEOT 89,787 81,168 +10.6% 371,364 313,361 +18.5%
FORD 89,381 110,842 -19.4% 440,262 428,271 +2.8%
OPEL/VAUXHALL 79,702 97,672 -18.4% 339,471 350,669 -3.2%
FIAT 70,952 99,350 -28.6% 334,755 348,880 -4.0%
CITROEN 70,487 74,858 -5.8% 307,272 273,079 +12.5%
AUDI 56,619 57,269 -1.1% 216,361 209,683 +3.2%
BMW 52,017 44,872 +15.9% 193,734 175,790 +10.2%
MERCEDES 49,389 47,919 +3.1% 184,012 183,720 +0.2%

Top 10 models Europe - April 2010

Make & Model Apr_10 Apr_09 % Change Apr Apr YtD_10 Apr YtD_09 % Change YtD
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 49,395 50,948 -3.0% 186,202 171,930 +8.3%
FORD FIESTA 32,226 44,149 -27.0% 173,096 159,555 +8.5%
RENAULT CLIO 29,258 21,490 +36.1% 132,876 87,809 +51.3%
VOLKSWAGEN POLO 28,092 30,204 -7.0% 123,889 107,003 +15.8%
PEUGEOT 207 26,415 32,109 -17.7% 118,312 122,730 -3.6%
OPEL/VAUXHALL ASTRA 25,854 22,163 +16.7% 105,458 81,756 +29.0%
OPEL/VAUXHALL CORSA 25,628 35,366 -27.5% 112,163 115,937 -3.3%
RENAULT MÉGANE 22,094 19,415 +13.8% 93,382 67,995 +37.3%
FORD FOCUS 21,948 24,349 -9.9% 102,630 102,507 +0.1%
FIAT PANDA 20,958 29,812 -29.7% 96,325 102,062 -5.6%

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