As Fiat being the countdown to the arrival of an array of exciting new models in the showrooms, their share of the Italian new car market remained pretty much the same last month.

After the car transporter drivers' strike it May hit the Italian new car market, and last month's subsequence bounce, figures got reasonably back to normal last month. It was a pleasing result for Fiat, keeping sales steady - until the arrival next month of the Fiat Grande Punto and Alfa Romeo 159 in September - is the order of the day over the summer period. Throw in the fact that Fiat are now concentrating closely on higher margin sales - as opposed to larger volume, but heavily discounted fleets sales - and the performance is very respectable, a state of affairs borne out by last Thursday's excellent second quarter trading results which completely surprised most market watchers.

Fiat Auto (counting Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Light Commercial Vehicles together) remained virtually unchanged year-on-year. Last month their overall market share was 27.52 percent, down slightly on July 2004, which stood at 28.09 pct.

Fiat branded registrations climbed by half a point to 44,071, equal to a 20.86 pct market share, and up from July 2004 where 43,853 new vehicles sold, equating to a 21 pct slice of the new market.
 

Fiat's performance was helped in part by yet another successful month for the LCV division, but also by deliveries of the new Croma station wagon which first went on sale the month before. Meanwhile Lancia, as is now usual, saw sales up again last month. 8,474 new registrations (a 6.52 pct rise year-on-year) giving Fiat's 'luxury' brand a 4.01 pct share of the new car market (up from July 2004 when 7,955 registrations gave the 3.81 pct). The high-specification Musa is proving to be an important niche player for Lancia, complementing the highly-popular Ypsilon hatchback.

Alfa Romeo once again underperformed year-on-year, as they anxiously await the arrival of the superb new Alfa 159 sedan next month, and the exciting Brera sportscar which is coming later in the year. These two cars (along with the Brera Spider, due to be unveiled at the Frankfurt IAA in September) will spearhead Alfa Romeo's revival - now under the guidance of new CEO Karl-Heinz Kalbfell - and all the signs point to the fact that these cars will be runaway winners. In the meantime, with the facelifted Alfa 147 hatchback now leading the sales drive, registrations slipped 18.09 pct to 5,607 units last month, giving them a 2.65 pct share of the Italian new car market. (Last July Alfa Romeo - Fiat's 'sporty' brand - sold 6,845 cars to claim a 3.28 pct share).