06.04.2012 FIAT SUFFERS WORST DOMESTIC MARCH SALES FOR A THIRD OF A CENTURY

2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW
2012 GENEVA MOTOR SHOW

Fiat Group Automobiles models on show at last month's 82nd Geneva Motor Show. The Italian carmaker suffered a torrid March on its domestic market, partly due to the overall market's sharp decline not helped by a transporter drivers' strike but also due to its product mix.

Fiat suffered a truly torrid March in Italy as its sales crashed by 35.99 percent, partly due to the effects of a transporter drivers' strike, but it also significantly underperformed the overall market which slumped 26.72 percent. It was the worst March sales performance for the Italian carmaker in fact for 32 years. In total 138,137 new cars were sold in Italy last month according to industry body UNRAE and that was fifty thousand units less than March 2011.

The Fiat Group's 35,990 registrations in March was twenty thousand units shy of the same month last year when it accounted for 55,916 units. As a result of falling much faster than the overall market the Fiat Group's domestic share fell from 29.66 percent last March to 26.05 percent for the month just gone.

The Fiat brand was the big volume loser, its 24,900 units last month compared to 28,953 during the same month last year was a fall of 36.08 percent. Significantly the Fiat brand's domestic downwards spiral has seen it now consistently break through the twenty percent barrier, its market share slumped to 18.03 percent last month compared to 20.67 percent during the same month a year ago.

Lancia sold 6,490 cars last month and, when compared to 9,210 in March 2011, that was a slide of 29.53 percent and that tipped its market share down slightly to 4.70 percent for the month just gone.

Alfa Romeo was Fiat Group Automobiles' (FGA) worst performer in year-on-year terms as it dropped 45.59 percent with 3,889 registrations last month compared to 7,148 during March 2011. That lowered its domestic sales share from 3.79 percent last March to 2.82 percent last month.

The only bright spot for FGA was Jeep as it rose 33.67 percent to 663 units; that comfortably outperformed the falling overall market. That raised Jeep's market share for March to 0.48 percent. The Fiat Group's two luxury/performance brands have fallen out of favour in an austerity-focused domestic market and both suffered dire March sales: Ferrari fell 40.91 percent to 39 units while the Trident managed to sell just 9 cars, a collapse of 79.09 percent.

After the first quarter of the year the Italian new car market is down 20.95 percent to 406,907 units, a drop of more than one hundred thousand units on the opening three months of last year. Fiat Group meanwhile has 113,635 registrations for the year-to-date, down almost forty thousand units and a quarter (-24.80 percent) on the same three months last year. Fiat's market share for the first quarter of 2011 was already below thirty percent (-29.35 percent), now the steady decline takes it to a 27.93 percent domestic share for the opening three months of this year.

The Fiat brand is the FGA (Fiat Group Automobiles) big loser for the year-to-date having managed to shift just 78,479 units, a drop of one-quarter (-25.61 percent) on the same period last year when volumes came in at 105,502 units. As a result the Fiat brand's overall market share for the first quarter rests below twenty percent (-19.29 percent) compared to 20.50 percent during the first three months of 2011.

Lancia beats the overall market for the first quarter as it's sales have shrunk by three thousand units and 13.36 percent to 20,589 units. As a result of outperforming the market its market share climbs from 4.62 percent during the first three months of 2011 to 5.06 percent during the same period this year. Alfa Romeo however is sinking quickly and its 12,330 units is down 38.32 percent on the same period last year and its year-to-date market share drops to 3.03 percent (compared to 3.88 percent during Q1 2011).

Jeep continues to be FGA's best performer for the year so far and 2,096 units is a rise of 38.53 percent year-on-year. Ferrari (108 units, -51.35 percent) and Maserati (110 units, -70 percent) have both been shunned by Italian consumers for the year-to-date.

The Fiat Panda was Italy's best selling car in March, thanks to the arrival of the new-generation model, with 10,287 registrations, although that is down on the same month last year when it saw 12,681 registrations. (The Panda however has built up an order book of 42,000 units, according to Fiat). The Punto was second with 7,117 units sold, that was just half the sales it managed last March (14,106 units). Lancia's new Ypsilon saw a strong recent run slowed as it shifted 3,910 units (5,307 in March 2011) while the final FGA model in the top ten, in ninth, was the fast-fading Fiat 500 which added 3,105 units (5,255 in March 2011). The Punto was also knocked off its perch as the market's top selling diesel, it's 2,719 units last month left it adrift of VW's oil burning Golf which saw 3,522 sales. The diesel version of Alfa Romeo's Giulietta (which was also the twelfth best selling car for the month just gone) was the only other FGA contender in the diesel-powered top ten for March, its 1,884 units placed it ninth.

For the year-to-date the Panda is the clear Italian market leader, its 30,756 units though is two and a half thousand less units than the same period last year but puts it well clear of the Punto in second place with 22,760 registrations. The collapse in domestic sales of the Punto, Fiat's key model has now reached alarming proportions and it is down fifteen thousand units on the same period last year, despite its recent panic refresh. The Ypsilon (13,620) makes it a top-three lockout for FGA, its sales are almost flat on last year thanks to the stabilising influence of a new model, while the now-sliding 500 (10,573) in seventh and the Giulietta (8,326) in ninth mean the Italian carmaker accounts for half the top-ten best-sellers.

Across the segments the Panda and Punto locked out the top two slots in March as usual in A-segment while in B-segment the Punto was the best-seller with the Ypsilon third. Alfa Romeo's MiTo has dropped away from the B-segment top-ten and its 1,147 sales last month in fact left it only as Italy's thirtieth best-selling car overall for the month.

In C-segment the Giulietta was knocked down to third behind the Golf (4,420) as well as the Opel Astra (2,692). For the year-to-date the Giulietta has 8,331 sales compared to the Golf's 11,427, and is three and a half thousand units adrift of its performance during the same three month period last year. Meanwhile the Fiat Bravo added 837 sales in March and has 3,369 sales for the year-to-date which compares unfavorably with 8,169 for the period last year. There is no place anymore for Lancia's Delta in the C-segment top-ten, the final nail in the coffin coming from the most-recent ill-judged model year makeover. It sold 834 examples last month. That left two of FGA's key C-segment models, the Bravo and Delta, in 49th and 50th place amongst the market's overall sellers - and even trailing bigger D-segment models from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and VW.

In D-segment the Fiat Freemont's run at the top thanks to its competitive entry pricing appears to be running its course and 1,143 units last month placed it fourth in the category while its 4,124 units for the first quarter keeps it in second place to VW's Tiguan (5,066). In E-segment the only FGA entrant was Jeep's Grand Cherokee with 155 sales while there was no place as ever for the unfortunate new Lancia Thema. For the year-to-date the Grand Cherokee is on 526 sales.

In F-segment the Ferrari 458 Italia (30) was fourth while the California (7) and GranTurismo (7) were the equal ninth best sellers and while the 458 Italia remained reasonably steady, shedding just five sales over March 2011 the California saw its sales plunge by two-thirds and the GranTurismo by three-quarters, while there was no place in the top-ten for Ferrari's FF which hasn't as yet fully captured the imagination of Italian buyers. For the year-to-date the 458 Italia is on 70 sales (down 45 units), the GranTurismo is on 21 units (down 52 units) and the FF is on 18 units.

Elsewhere, in 'Fuoristrada' the Fiat Sedici had a burst of life to add 415 units while in 'Multispace' the Fiat Qubo (1,083) and Fiat Doblo (293) continued to lead the segment as they do for the year-to-date with 2,988 and 961 sales respectively. In the class reserved for small MPVs Lancia's aged Musa continues to hold up very well and its 1,575 units sold last month compares favourably with March last year when it sold 2,016 units. That kept it in second place, a similar position it holds for the year-to-date with 3,531 sold. Fiat's Idea is also hanging on quite well as the clock ticks down on its lifecycle and 391 sales put it in sixth place for the month and it has totted up 1,556 sales for the first quarter.


 

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