05.07.2004 Fiat Auto continued to consolidate their market share in Italy last month, taking a 26.6% slice, while A SHARP RISE IN THE volume of registrations bucked the market trend

Fiat Auto continued to consolidate their market share in Italy last month, taking a 26.6% slice, up 1.5% year-on-year.

However in the volume of registrations, the range of exciting new models and engines is really starting to pay off, as, while the market increased by 3.3%, Fiat Auto jumped an impressive 9.5%.

All the brands contributed to this sharp increase, Fiat up 9.4%, Lancia a very welcome 16.1%, and Alfa Romeo 3.4%.

A raft of new models is contributing to Fiat's upbeat performance, particularly the 'Car of the Year' award winning Panda and the 'mini-MPV' Idea, while a fresh new look and the availability of the exciting new 1.3 Multijet 16v for the Punto continue to see it top Italy's best seller list.

All these have contributed to Fiat increasing their volume over the first six months of the year by 5.7%, a figure nearly double the market average.

While the Punto continues to be Italy's favourite choice, a position now cemented by the well received new model, the Panda is firmly in second place, with Lancia's new Ypsilon fourth.

Meanwhile, the Fiat Idea tops the relatively new segment created for B-MPV models, the Fiat Ulysse and Lancia Phedra command the 'people carrier' sector, while the Doblo is Italy's best selling mid-size van. In the diesel category the Punto is the leader, with the Stilo, now available with the 1.9 Multijet, weighing in fourth.

Alfa Romeo, despite recording the lowest volume rise of all the Group's brands at 3.4%, fared much better than the statistics at first glance reveal, bucking the trend as the segments they perform in actually dropped by 2.1%. In D-segment the facelifted 156 saloon continues to sell strongly, while with the GT Coupe, Fiat's sporting brand has without a doubt another winner on its hands.