Just days after the Fiat Group announced a fourth quarter of 2005 profit for its Auto Division, it has been revealed that while Italian new car sales rose by 10.71 pct year-on-year-last month, Fiat outperformed the rising market to rise to grab a 30.8 pct share of its home turf. Fiat have set a 30 pct target its domestic market for this year, and the news that they have comfortably outperformed this aim in the very first month of the year, rounds out an excellent January for the resurgent carmaker.

Italian trade body ANFIA announced yesterday that 237,409 new vehicles had hit the Italian roads last month, up from 214,439 in January 2005. Fiat Auto (including the Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and LCV brands) accounted for 73,131 units of this total in January, up by 23 pct on the previous year. December had seen Fiat Auto grab a 29.39 pct share of its key home market, and last month the announcement that the Auto Division had turned in its first trading profit for almost five years, 21 million euros, signalled clearly that the revival is gathering steam.

Last month saw 55,886 Fiat-branded vehicles (including LCV) being registered, up by 27.43 pct from the 43,856 which were sold in Jan 2005, the figure which gave Fiat a 23.54 pct share of the market, driven on by ever growing demand for the well-received new 'compact' Grande Punto model, which topped sales with 27,329 units shifted, and which Fiat are targeting 360,000 sales for globally this year. The Panda, which continues to utterly dominate A-segment both in Italy and Europe, was second with 13,783 new unit sales, while the venerable Seicento model squeezed into the top ten as 3,924 were sold.

With demand for the new Alfa 159 sedan starting to bite in, the Alfa Romeo brand had an excellent month, selling 7,124 cars, up by 24.61 pct year-on-year.
 

 Jan 2005 had seen Alfa Romeo registering 5,717 cars, and last month's performance saw their market share climb to 3 pct, from 2.61 pct recorded in Jan 2005. The Alfa 147 remained the brand's best performer and a recent market repositioning has boosted demand, the hatchback selling 3,984 units last month, significantly up from the 2,807 which were shifted in Jan 2005. The new Alfa 159 was fourth most popular car in D-segment, just behind the Fiat Croma, with 2,360 units sold.

Lancia also put a weak recent run behind them, and Fiat Auto's best performer of 2005 sold 10,121 new cars last month, up 2.47 pct on Jan 2005 when 9,877 new Lancia's had been shifted. The Ypsilon was Italy's fourth best selling car last month, 7,067 being sold, well up from the 5,359 which were bought in Jan 2005. With a limited model range and no fully new introductions for sometime now, Fiat Auto's 'luxury' brand continues to defy expectations and underline the on-going value in this famous marque. They took a 4.26 pct share of the market last month, and undoubtedly the arrival next year of a brand new Delta model will signify the upward spiral of a carmaker that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

Fiat's specialist brand, Maserati, sold 63 cars last month (48 of them being Quattroporte sedans), down from 88 in Jan 2005, a fall of 28.41 pct, mostly attributable to a recent tailing off of market demand for the Coupé and Spider models.