Dragged down once again
by its slumping domestic market, the Fiat Group was
unchallenged during March as the worst performer amongst
the major carmaking groups in Europe: it fell 20 pct
year-on-year, more than four times the overall market.
That plunged the Fiat Group's market share to just 6.7
percent, the data coming from automotive manufacturer
body ACEA which recorded that 1,602,131 cars were
sold across Europe (EU+EFTA) during March, a
year-on-year decline of 4.7 percent.
There was no respite last
month for the Fiat Group, comfortably Europe's worst big
performer this year so far, and the 106,836 cars it sold
in March was down 20 percent from the 133,563 units it
achieved during the same period last year when it was
able to prosper thanks to government incentive schemes
and a more stable Italian market. That meant that the
Fiat Group's European market share for the month just
gone dropped from 7.9 to just 6.7 percent year-on-year.
The Fiat Group's 20 percent year-on-year fall was the
worst in Europe amongst the big groups, the other key
losers were Ford (-16.3 percent) and Renault (-14.2
percent), while taking into account every carmaker on
the market, the only ones to suffer more than Fiat were
Mazda (-29.9 percent) and of course the market's
traditional worst performer, Chrysler Group (-41.6
percent).
The Fiat Group's
problems stem from the Fiat brand which fell 27.3
percent to 79,692 units last month from 109,678 units
during the same period a year ago and that reduced its
European market share from 6.5 to 5.0 percent
year-on-year. The Fiat brand switched places with
Citroën to slip to be the seventh best selling brand in
Europe for the month and was comfortably the biggest
loser amongst the top ten. VW's niche luxury brand Audi
meanwhile ended the month just four thousand units
behind Fiat in Europe. Fiat's problems, as well as the
ending of scrappage schemes, is compounded by ageing
models and a weak mid life facelift to the Grande Punto.
According to research
from JATO Dynamics released today, the Fiat brand
failed to have any representative amongst the top-ten
best selling cars in Europe last month. Europe's
best-selling model during March was the VW Golf (53,055
units) followed by the Ford Fiesta (50,534), which
however at 26.9 percent down year-on-year was the
biggest loser out of the top-ten, and VW Polo (39,311)
which the only model in the top-ten to raise its market
share year-on-year. At the bottom end of the top-ten,
the Peugeot 207 (31,021), Renault Megane (26,534) and
Citroën C3 (26,021) were all clear in consumers' favours
ahead of Fiat's usual top sellers, the Panda and Punto
Evo.
However there was some
very good news from the Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA)
stable as Alfa Romeo, thanks to the continuing success
of the new Giulietta, surged 65.3 percent to 16,266
units last month versus 9,841 in March last year,
pushing its market share up from 0.6 to 1.0 percent
year-on-year. That performance made Alfa Romeo the best
performing brand in Europe for the month of March,
comfortably ahead of the other big winners, Lexus (+56.9
percent) and Mitsubishi (+31.8 percent). Lancia, which
sells nine out of every ten of its models in Italy,
mirrored its domestic market's fall and its 10,008 units
in Europe last month compared to 13,148 during the same
month a year ago, added up to a fall of 23.9 percent
year-on-year. That meant its market share dropped from
0.8 to 0.6 percent for the month, year-on-year. The Fiat
Group's niche luxury/performance brands, Ferrari and
Maserati, sold a combined 870 cars in Europe last month,
which was relatively flat year-on-year (-2.9 percent).
After the first three
months of the year, a total of 3,690,389 cars have been
sold in Europe according to ACEA, a year-on-year
fall of 2.0 percent. The Fiat Group has 263,894
registrations for the year-to-date and, when compared
with the 325,961 it managed during the first quarter of
last year, that adds up to a fall of 19.0 percent. The
Fiat Group's market share for the quarter thus declined
from 8.7 to 7.2 percent year-on-year. Amongst the big
carmaking groups, Fiat is the clear wooden spoon winner
for the month, as has been the recent trend, only Ford
(-13 percent) also racks up double digit losses. In
volume terms the winner for the year-to-date is Europe's
leader, VW (+5.9 percent) while BMW (+11.4 also makes
strong gains amongst Fiat's peer group.
For the year-to-date
the Fiat Group's problems continue to stem from the Fiat
brand and in particular the decline in the Italian
market. The Fiat brand has 196,340 registrations for the
first three months of the year in Europe, down sixy
eight thousand units on the same period last year. That
means the Fiat brand has lost a quarter of its sales
year-on-year for the first quarter (-25.6 percent) which
leaves it as the worst performing brand in Europe (if
the trickle of cars sold under the "GM" name as well as
the perennially shunned Chrysler Group are discounted).
The Fiat brand's market share meanwhile drops from 7.0
to 5.3 percent year-on-year. Alfa Romeo is the bright
spot for the year-to-date, its 39,964 sales for the
quarter is up 49.4 percent year-on-year and its market
share is up from 0.7 to 1.1 percent year-on-year. Lancia
drops however: 25,847 registrations after three months
is down 23.1 percent on the same period last year and
its market share slides from 0.9 to 0.7 percent. Ferrari
and Maserati meanwhile have a combined total of 1,743
sales for the year-to-date, up 5.0 percent year-on-year.
The Chrysler Group,
which the Fiat Group last week raised its share in from
25 to 30 percent, continues untroubled as Europe's worst
performing carmaker in both March and first quarter
terms, the U.S. carmaker still finding space to decline,
despite a revival in its domestic market. A total of
3,004 cars combined across its three brands (Chrysler,
Dodge and Jeep) last month compared to 5,145 units
during March 2010 is 41.6 percent down year-on-year,
reducing its market share from 0.3 to 0.2 percent, while
for the year-to-date it has 7,814 sales compared to
11,464 during the same three months last year, a fall of
31.8 percent, and its market share is down from 0.3 to
0.2 percent for the period. However Chrysler's recent
decline is down in much to the withdrawal of the Dodge
brand from Europe, the winding down of the Chrysler
brand on mainland markets and that the key Jeep brand
(which now comes under FGA direction) is mostly awaiting
several new or refreshed models.
