02.02.2011 FIAT SALES DOWN SHARPLY AS ITALIAN MARKET SLUMP CONTINUES INTO THE NEW YEAR

NUOVA LANCIA YPSILON 2011
NUOVA LANCIA YPSILON 2011
NUOVA LANCIA YPSILON 2011
NUOVA LANCIA YPSILON 2011

Lancia's aged B-segment Ypsilon continues to sell remarkably well in Italy, the 3-door hatchback adding 3,979 sales last month to be the seventh best-selling car on the market. The next-generation model, based on the 500 platform (above, see during cold weather testing) is now just weeks away from its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Fiat has started the new year in Italy just as it finished the old one, losing sales and underperforming the market: 48,045 units registered during January equated to a 27.72 percent year-on-year fall and left it lagging the overall market which fell by a fifth. According to data released by Italian automotive body UNRAE, a total of 164,356 cars were registered in Italy during January which was down 20.70 percent compared to the same month a year ago (207,266 units in January 2010) when the effects of the state-sponsored 'scrappage's scheme were still in full swing.

The Fiat Group's sales total of 48,045 units last month compared unfavourably to January last year when it shifted 66,469 cars and resulted in a year-on-year decline of more than a quarter, and as a result, its market share dropped from 32.07 to 29.23 percent year-on-year for the month. However Fiat was less than a percentage point adrift of the psychologically important 30 percent threshold.

The Fiat Automobiles brand was January's big loser from the Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) portfolio, it sold 34,307 units last month, compared to 52,218 units in January 2010, which left it down by more than a third year-on-year (-34.20 percent). As a result Fiat's market share dropped sharply from 25.19 to 20.87 percent year-on-year.

Lancia's fall during January mirrored the overall market's decline: its 7,042 units, compared to 9,005 units during the same month a year ago, left it down 21.80 percent year-on-year and its overall market share very slightly down year-on-year: a 4.28 percent stake for January versus 4.34 percent for the same month a year ago. Alfa Romeo had a very strong month and thus helped keep the overall picture more respectable for FGA as it shifted 6,569 cars, and, driven by demand for the new C-segment Giulietta which accounted for more than four thousand of those sales, the 'sports' brand was up 28.58 percent year-on-year (5,109 units in January 2010). That meant Alfa Romeo's Italian market share shot up from 2.46 to 4.00 percent year-on-year for the first month of 2011. Of the Fiat Group's niche performance/luxury brands, Ferrari sold 95 cars in January, almost unchanged year-on-year (-3.06 percent), while Maserati ended January with 32 sales (-17.95 percent).

The Fiat Punto (including the Grande Punto and Punto Evo combined) was the best selling car in Italy during January, 13,157 sales leaving it comfortably more than three thousand units ahead of the second placed Fiat Panda (9,966). The Fiat 500 (5,384) was edged out of fourth place by VW's Golf to leave it as the fifth highest selling car of the opening month of the year while the sixth placed Giulietta and the seventh placed Lancia Ypsilon (3,979) made it a strong five FGA models in the January top ten. The Punto (5,693) was also the top selling diesel in Italy during January ahead of the Giulietta (3,072) in second place while the Fiat Bravo (1,930) in eighth place was FGA's final representative in the top-ten.

The Chrysler Group, now 25 percent owned by the Fiat Group, ended January with 598 sales in Italy, flat on the same month a year ago (-1.64 percent). That worked out as 102 vehicles for the Chrysler brand, putting it down more than a quarter (-28.17 percent) year-on-year and a mere 23 units for Dodge (-82.44 percent), which is fading out of the market, but a sharp rise to 475 units for Jeep (+41.19 percent).

Elsewhere VW-owned Lamborghini had a good month by its recent dismal Italian sales standards, it sold 9 of its sports cars during January, down 35.72 percent year-on-year, and for a countback of the last 12 months it has sold 96 cars in its home market. DR Motor, which assembles selected models from China's Chery Automobile in Italy from CKD kits, continued to outperform the market: 547 cars sold last month, compared to 409 in January 2010, was up 33.74 percent year-on-year.
 

© 2011 Interfuture Media/Italiaspeed