Driven on by orders for the new Grande Punto and the beginnings of a revival at Alfa Romeo, Fiat Auto bucked a falling home market trend last month to turn in positive gains. While the Italian new car market combined, fell by almost 10 percent during December, Fiat Auto (counting together the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and LCV brands) climbed by 3.47 pct as a combined total of 41,441 new vehicles were registered, up from the 40,053 sold in December 2004, reports motor body ANFIA.

The net result added up to a 29.42 pct share of the market, well up from the 26.63 pct recorded the previous year, which was one of the darker moments in its history for the carmaker. Fiat branded vehicles (including Light Commercials) accounted for 22.43 pct of the Italian market (31,598 new vehicles), up by 6.01 pct on Dec 2004 when 29,807 new registrations accounted for a 19.82 pct market share.

Most pleasing though during December was Alfa Romeo's performance, the sporty Milanese brand ending a long loosing streak to post positive gains, pushed upward by steadily growing demand for the stylish new Alfa 159 sedan. 4,205 new cars delivered in December gave them a 2.99 pct market share, (up from 3,826 new cars sold during the equivalent period the previous year, when a 2.54 pct share was recorded). It all added up to an excellent 9.91 pct year-on-year rise.
 

Lancia's recent good sales run seems to have come to a temporary end, and despite a strong order book for the Musa, they slipped by 12 pct year-on-year. 5,601 new registrations left Lancia holding a still very healthy 3.98 pct market share last month, as opposed to 4.23 pct in Dec 2004 when 6,365 new Lancias hit the Italian roads. Of the specialist brands, Maserati saw 25 registrations last month (37 in Dec 2004), while Ferrari kicked in with 11 (13 in Dec 2004).

In total 626,515 new vehicles from Fiat Auto arrived on the Italian roads last year (as opposed to 635,819 in Dec 2004), which gave them a 28.04 pct market share for Jan-Dec, almost unchanged from 28.08 pct in 2004. After a difficult first six months of 2004 when the company was crying out for the arrival of new models, the year close provides an excellent platform on which to now build a very promising future. Splitting the Fiat Auto brands apart, Alfa Romeo sold 61,970 new cars in Italy last year (a 2.77 pct market share), down 18.19 pct on Jan-Dec 2004 when 75,747 new Alfas were sold. Lancia ended 2004 up year-on-year, with 99,481 new registrations (equating to a 4.45 pct market share) as opposed to 94,942 in Jan-Dec 2004. This all added up to give them a solid 4.78 pct rise in their market share year-on-year. With demand for their super-luxury Quattroporte sedan helping to counter slowing Coupé and Spyder sales, Maserati recorded a 4.79 pct rise year-on-year (613 in 2005, 585 in 2004), while Ferrari, with 588 new registrations were up by 30.09 pct.