Fiat Group total registrations dropped by 11.3 percent year on year across Europe last month (using data for the 23 European Union member nations, plus the EFTA countries) reports agency ACEA. Last month Fiat Auto (including the Fiat, LCV, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands) registered 82,291 new vehicles (as opposed to 92,799 in September 2004). This reduced their overall share of the European new car market from 6.6 to 5.7 pct.

In the first nine months of the year the decline for Fiat Auto was 15.3 pct with 757,387 new vehicles registered, which gives them a 6.4 pct share of the total market. (893,845 new vehicles were registered by Fiat Auto in the period Jan-Sep 2004, when they claimed 7.4 pct of the total market). This breaks down between Fiat branded vehicle sales now standing at 558,439 (-17.6 pct) for the year, while Lancia have sold 93,368 cars (+5.8 pct) and Alfa Romeo are slightly higher 101,374 (-18.3 pct).

Lancia was once again the brightly shining star of the Fiat Auto brand portfolio, the 'luxury' arm up by 8.6 pct on the equivalent period last year. 9,417 new cars (mostly made up of Ypsilon and Musa models) were registered across Europe in September, although almost all of this total comes from Italian buyers, and, as Lancia continues to seek to revitalise its pan-European dealer and distribution network, now with a new CEO at the helm, the future can only look even brighter still. In September 2004, Lancia saw 8,670 new registrations, and so their market share climbs up by 0.1 pct year on year, to now stand at 0.7 pct.
 

A total of 62,381 Fiat-branded mix of cars and light commercials were registered across Europe last month, allowing them to capture a 4.1 pct share of the market (71,888 were registered in September 2004) while Alfa Romeo shifted 10,169 new cars last month to record a 0.7 pct stake of the total new car market, down by 0.1 pct year on year. (11,846 Alfa Romeos were actually sold in September 2004).

While the figures are undoubtedly a disappointment - and trading in Fiat Group shares dipped on the Milan bourse today, to close the day 1 pct down - this is expected to have been the last difficult month for Fiat Auto. The most important new model to be introduced by Fiat for many years - the compact-segment Fiat Grande Punto - has won rave initial reviews, is now being delivered to customers, and has an ever-bulging order book, while Alfa Romeo's luxurious new 159 sedan is also now rolling off their production lines. Both these two exciting and highly anticipated models are expected to make a positive contribution to next month's European sales data (although the bulk of deliveries during October will mainly be confined to Italy), and Fiat are exuding undisguised confidence that the remainder of the year will push Fiat Auto firmly back into positive territory.