Just released Europe wide new car registration data for October shows that Fiat's market share slipped 0.7% year-on-year, a decline which has been influenced by a testing last month in their key domestic market.

The overall trend was downwards as new registrations across the fifteen European Union member states dropped by 3.5 percent year-on-year, to a total of 1,136,930 units. The decline is sharpened to 4.4 percent if all twenty five countries are included.

The markets right across Europe slid during October, and Italy was one of the poorer performers as new car sales dropped by 8.5 percent. Fiat was in particular hit hard in its home market, with sales down 12.4 percent year-on-year.

Europe-wide Fiat's share of new registrations was 7.1 percent (down from 7.8 percent in October 2003).

From January to October, Fiat Auto (which the includes the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands) registered 913,649 new cars in Europe. This figure is 0.8 percent up on the same ten month period last year, keeping the underlying recovery trend firmly in place. Market share, at 7.4 percent, remained the same.

Fiat attribute the 8.2 percent domestic drop to their focus on the much more profitable retail sector, as opposed to fleet sales where margins are either flat or, more often than not, negative.

Alfa Romeo also saw a large decline in domestic sales last month. However this is attributed to a falling-off in demand for the popular Alfa 147 prior to the introduction of the new model.
 

A former 'European Car of the Year' award winner, the new model, with its freshened up looks and wider customer appeal, is being hotly tipped to start reversing Alfa Romeo's fortunes.

Lancia however, bucked the downward trend, its market share rising for yet another month. While demand for the Ypsilon 'pocket flagship' continues to hold up nicely, the new Musa is turning out to be a strong niche player with a bright future ahead of it.

With the 'hands on' new Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne reportedly enamoured by the Lancia brand, the future for Fiat's 'luxury' arm seems to be more promising now that it has been for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Fiat are continuing with the policy of short plant shutdowns to ease model over production.

The Termini Imerese plant has been closed down once more, this time for three weeks, ending on 5th December. The Sicilian factory only resumed production a fortnight ago after a two week shutdown.

All 1,400 workers have been laid off, except for six who have been transferred to Ferrari's paintshop in Maranello, and another sixty, skilled electricians and assembly staff, who have been shipped off to Alfa Romeo's huge factory at Pomigliano d'Arco near Naples.