Last month Italian car sales were badly affected by a month strike by car transporter drivers', sending the market sharply downwards. With demand in fact down by a massive 27.9 pct, comparisons with previous months are thus rendered meaningless. However the good news for Fiat was that their market share of 27.8 pct last month was up 0.3 pct on May 2004 and meant that the were able to record another steady month as they await the arrival of a new models, including the new Fiat Croma which made its pan-Italian showroom debut over the last weekend and opened up its order book.

Fiat branded cars in fact took a 20.6 pct share of the market, up 0.3 pct over April, helped once again by a strong showing from the LCV division. The Fiat Punto, which is due to be replaced in the autumn, and the former 'European Car of the Year' award-winning Panda, continued to be the domestic market's best sellers as they topped their respective segments.

For the record, Italian new car registrations came in at 149,229 in May, a drop of 27.9 pct from May 2004's total of 207,011 units. The car transporter driver' strike deeply cut into the new car sector, but with it now resolved at least a mild sales bounce can be expected this month. Overall for the first five months total registrations are down 9.7 pct on the equivalent period in 2004, with 987,557 new vehicles hitting the Italian roads this year (as opposed to 1,093,246 in 2004).

Splitting up the Fiat brands, 30,700 Fiats were registered to take a 20.57 pct market share, which remained virtually unchanged year-on-year (43,025 registrations equating to a 20.78 pct share in May 2004).
 

Alfa Romeo, with demand gradually increasing for the new Alfa 147, took a 3.02 pct share of their domestic market last month, and thus posted a good result in light of the trying circumstances, with 4,509 new cars registered (6,157 cars registered gave them a 2.97 pct share in May 2004). Lancia also had yet another a very positive month, registering 6,277 cars and increasing their market share substantially from 3.74 pct in May 2004 (7,750 car registered) to 4.21 pct last month.

In fact, taking into account the lack of cars available to the customers, Lancia once again outperformed its sister brands. While Fiat sales totally were down 28.65 pct, and Alfa Romeo not far behind on 26.77, Lancia, helped greatly by strong interest in the new Musa, were the most cushioned of the trio, down 19.01 pct.

Despite the problems thrown up by the car transporter drivers' strike, Fiat were satisfied to once again keep the ship steady, and five Fiat Auto Division models' were within the top ten best sellers: The Fiat Punto, Panda and Stilo, the Lancia Ypsilon and new Alfa 147, while the Multijet engine range, in its various guises, continued to keep a stranglehold on diesel sales.