Last month the Fiat brand finally enjoyed some positive news in the UK as its sales steamed up by nearly a fifth to give Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) some respite while Abarth also continued its year-long shining run; however Alfa Romeo has run out of steam on this market and lost ground.
The UK new car market remained stable in July, with year-on-year demand growing by 1.2%, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 163,898 new cars were registered last month as the market stabilised following a turbulent first six months.
Fiat shifted 2,286 cars last month in the UK and with sales plummeting all year that brought FCA's volume brand some much needed numbers and was up 351 units and 18.14% year-on-year. As a result, Fiat's share of the market edged up from 1.19% in July last year to 1.39% last month.
Abarth's positive year in the UK (where its data is recorded separately to Fiat) continued through July and it was up 10.91% and 30 units to 305 units. The Scorpion's market share came in at 0.19% for the month. Another FCA niche sports brand, Maserati, also reversed its recent downtrend during July and was up 10.39% to 117 units.
The good news ended there though as Alfa Romeo lost 19.44% of its sales year-on-year after shifting 261 units, a fall of 63 units as it seemingly continues to struggle to connect buyers with the new Stelvio and recent Giulia. Alfa Romeo’s share of the market for July as a consequence slipped by 4% year-on-year to 0.16%.
Jeep completed the picture for FCA in the UK during July and the off road was down 31.11% to 299 units.
In the broader picture of the UK market during July registrations by businesses with fleets of 25 cars or fewer fell by 10.2% while demand from private buyers was up by 0.1% on the same month last year. Meanwhile, large fleet registrations grew by 2.6% in July.
In terms of fuel type, the market followed the trend of previous months, with diesel registrations falling 24.4% as petrol demand grew by 20.1%. Meanwhile, alternatively fuelled vehicles enjoyed an uplift of 21.0%, with market share of hybrids and plug-ins reaching a record 6.5%. Growth was particularly strong for plug-in hybrids, up by a third (33.5%), while hybrid registrations grew 17.5%, followed by battery electric cars, up 2.4%.
For the year-to-date, the UK market remains down by 5.5%, broadly in line with expectations as demand begins to level out. During the first seven months of the year, almost 1.5 million new cars were registered by consumers and businesses in the UK.
The picture isn't pretty for the Fiat brand for the first seven months of the year in the UK and 22,232 units shifted represents a year-on-year fall of 27.42%. It also adds up to a fall of almost eight and a half thousand units over the same period last year – so Fiat’s positive direction last month was very timely.
Alfa Romeo has had a year to forget so far in the UK and is down 7.5% to 2,798 units despite its new model range. Maserati is also down having lost 20.77% of its sales in seven months in year-on-year terms to 847 units.
However, while Fiat and Alfa Romeo are on an overall downtrend this year, Abarth continues to put on gains, it’s up 30.22% to 3,344 units after seven months. Finally, Jeep is down 10.08% to 3,800 units for the first seven months and a market share of 0.26%.
