03.12.2003 THE ITALIAN CAR MARKET FOR NEW REGISTRATIONS SLIDES DURING NOVEMBER

Italian new car registrations fell during November, ending up 4% down year on year as 171,000 new cars hit the road, down almost 8,000 on last November. After Fiat's strong October showing when it took 29.6% of its domestic market, last month this slipped back to 28.2% despite a stream of new models coming off the production lines.

Fiat is aiming for an end of year market share above 30% as a raft of new models, including the Fiat restyled Punto, the Idea mini mpv and the 'Car of the Year' winning new Panda, as well as Lancia's Ypsilon, come on stream. Achieving this target will be taken as a sign that the struggling carmaker's restructuring plans are starting to help lift them back to profitability.