italiaspeed.com

Fiat Group enjoyed a more robust month's sales on home turf during April as it unlocked a backlog of deliveries and its 40,778 sales last month was down 11.95 percent year-on-year which comfortably outperformed the overall market which fell 17.99 percent to 129,663 units.

Fiat Group was down five and a half thousand units on April 2011 but outperforming the overall market gave it some welcome respite from its problems and its market share bounced back above the 30 percent threshold, the domestic giant taking a 31.45 share compared to 29.29 percent last April.

The Fiat brand continues to set the tone for the Group and it was down four thousand units to 28,215 sales last month, a drop of 12.50 percent. However that outperformed the overall market as a whole and thus Fiat's April market share rose from 20.39 percent last year to 21.76 last month.

Lancia kept its sales steady during April and its 7,499 registrations when compared to 7,687 during the same month last year was almost flat (-2.45 percent) and that raised its share by almost one percentage point year-on-year to 5.78 percent. Alfa Romeo however matched the market's overall decline as 4,440 units last month compared to 5,517 in April 2011 was a fall of 19.52 percent but left its market share down just 0.07 percent to 3.42 percent. Jeep's 592 sales was down one-fifth year-on-year while the Fiat Group's two luxury/performance brands, Ferrari and Maserati, both suffered: the Maranello sports car maker shed three quarters of its sales to end on 24 units although that wasn't a bad as its Modena stable mate which slumped 85.45 percent to just 8 sales.

For the year-to-date a total of 527,170 news passenger cars have been sold in Italy, a drop of one fifth on the same period last year. Fiat Group has 154,528 sales for the year-to-date, more than forty thousand units less than the opening four months of last year and a decline of 21.72 percent while its market share for the period slips from 29.34 percent (2011) to 28.77 percent (2012).

The Fiat brand has amassed 106,784 sales for the year-to-date, down just over thirty thousand units and 22.48 percent over the opening four months of last year; its market share thus drops to 19.88 percent as a result. Lancia has 28,106 sales for the year-to-date, down 10.56 percent, but as it outperforms the overall market its share climbs to 5.23 percent. Alfa Romeo has only managed 16,774 sales so far this year, almost nine thousand units less than last year and a slump of more than one-third; its market share contracts to 3.12 percent. Meanwhile Jeep is up 17.93 percent to 2,690 units, Ferrari is down 54.54 percent to 133 units and Maserati has lost three quarters of its sales which means it has only shifted 41 cars at home so far this year.

Thanks to the steadying effect of the new version, the Panda was Italy's best-selling car during April with 10,725 registered, while its Fiat brand sister, the Punto, was second on 9,275 units. Making it a top three lockout for FGA, the Lancia Ypsilon (4,669) edged out the Citroën C3 (4,613). Having a better month than recently, the Fiat 500 (4,050) made it four models in the top five for Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA). Also having a better month was Alfa Romeo's Giulietta (3,236) which was the Italian carmaker's final representative in the top ten, in seventh place. The Punto (2,460) was Italy's second best selling diesel car last month just behind VW's Golf.

For the year-to-date the Panda is Italy's best selling car on 41,516 units, comfortably ahead of the Punto which has 32,047 sales, while the Ypsilon is fourth on 18,298 units. The 500 (14,640) and Giulietta (11,559) are seventh and ninth respectively and mean half of the top ten are FGA models. The Punto is Italy's second best selling diesel car after four months, on 10,891 units while the Giulietta (8,296) is fifth.

Across the segments the Panda was the top seller in A-segment last month, flat on last year which leaves it one and a half thousand units down on the same period last year, while the 500 was second although it dropped two thousand sales compared to April 2011. That leaves the 500 struggling and in fact eight thousand units off its January to April performance last year. The roll-roof 500C version continues to suffer in particular, it added 474 units last month which was actually slightly up year-on-year but for the year-to-date it has totted up just 720 sales, a halving over the same period last year when it shifted 1,471 units.

In B-segment the Punto led the way, however the latest refresh hasn't galvanised its long term sales fade and it was five hundred units off April last year while for the year-to-date it is sixteen thousand units down. The Alfa Romeo MiTo continues to go missing in action in B-segment and 1,072 sales during April was down a third on the same month last year when it shifted 1,515 units. For the year-to-date the story is equally bleak as the MiTo fades off: 4,673 in 2012 versus 8,047 during the same period in 2011.

In C-segment the Giulietta posted a very decent April and was second, just a couple of hundred units shy of VW's Golf. For the year-to-date the Giulietta is also second and is three thousand units behind the Golf and nearly four thousand units down on last year. The Fiat Bravo was the eighth best seller in C-segment last month with 1,411 finding buyers and for the year-to-date it is on 4,792 units, sales having dropped by a half compared to last year (9,787 units for January to April 2011).

In D-segment the Fiat Freemont (1,007) took second spot behind the VW Tiguan (1,557) and for the year-to-date it is a similar story, the Freemont has 5,135 sales while the Tiguan has 6,628. In E-segment meanwhile the Jeep Grand Cherokee added 132 sales in April to take seventh spot, a position it also holds for the year-to-date with a total of 659 sales. In F-segment Ferrari's 458 Italia was seventh and its sister the California tenth, with 13 and 7 sales respectively, while for the year-to-date the 458 Italia (84) is fourth, the California (24) ninth and Maserati's GranTurismo (23) tenth. Those sales compare unfavourably with the opening four months of last year when the 458 had sold 146 units and the California and GranTurismo and California were both on 104.

Elsewhere the ageing Lancia Musa posted an excellent month, bouncing to the top of the mini-MPV category with 1,802 sales, nearly five hundred units clear of the second placed Opel Meriva. The Musa's performance also compares well with April 2011 when it shifted 2,068 units and for the year-to-date it is also now pushed itself to the top of the class, it is on 5,337 units (7,234 in Jan-Apr 2011) and that is three hundred units ahead of the Meriva. In 'Multispace' the Fiat Qubo and Doblò continued to lock out the top spots in April, the Qubo was flat on 1,084 units while the Doblò saw its sales shrinking from 685 in April 2011 to only 264 last month. For the year-to-date the Qubo is flat on 4,077 units while the Doblò drops one thousand units to 1,246.

Support Italiaspeed