Fiat's amazing turnaround continued across Western Europe during April: while the market overall market fell by 7.6 pct and every other major car-making group lost share, Fiat saw its own sales climb by 12.1 percent, reveals data released this morning by car manufacturer body ACEA. The figures are somewhat distorted by the fact that the Easter holiday period fell during April this year whereas it was in March last year, meaning that most countries had an extra two days holiday last month, and Germany - the biggest market - had three days.

Last month 1,202,544 new vehicles were registered in Western Europe (counting the 15 European Union member nations plus the EFTA signatories), down by 7.6 pct on April 2005 when 1,301,333 units were shifted. All the big carmakers were hit by a downturn in sales except for Fiat, who were actually the only one out of the big nine to record a sales rise: Renault were hardest hit, down by 12.8 pct, followed by Ford Europe -12.1 pct, GM (Opel/Vauxhall) -11.1 pct, DaimlerChrysler -10.7 pct, BMW Group -10.0 pct, PSA Peugeot Citroën -9.9 pct, VW/Audi Group -2.3 pct and finally Toyota (including the luxury Lexus brand) by a more modest -0.1pct. Only Japanese brands Honda and Suzuki showed any real positive gains.

Last month Fiat (combining the Fiat, LCV, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Ferrari and Maserati brands) sold 93,830 new vehicles, up 12.1 pct on April 2005's total figure of 83,677 units. This meant Fiat's share climbed from 6.4 pct to 7.8 pct year-on-year. Fiat Auto's fortunes are still being propelled forward by the new exciting Grande Punto model which continues to hold buyer's attention although B-segment is rapidly becoming crowded as the Punto faces competition from the new Renault Clio and Toyota Yaris, while GM are imminently set to release the next-generation Opel/Vauxhall Corsa model range into the 'subcompact' category. Unexpectedly strong demand for the new Sedici 4x4, along with very solid performances by the Croma 'station wagon' and the whole 'Light Commercial Vehicle' range has complimented the Grande Punto's runaway success.

Fiat branded vehicles (including LCV) were the big winners from the group last month: 71,798 units registered, equating to a 17.3 pct rise on April 2005's total of 61,188 units.
 

This added up to their market share climbing from 4.7 to 6.0 pct year-on-year. Alfa Romeo was up a pleasing 9.7 pct, with 12,401 cars sold last month compared to 11,302 in April 2005, their share of the European market climbing in turn from 0.9 to 1.0 pct. Lancia slipped by 11.8 pct, with 9,341 new vehicles last month as opposed to 10,591 for the equivalent period last year. Their total market share was unchanged though at 0.8 pct.

During the first four months of this year Fiat has now sold 412,743 new vehicles, up by 16.5 pct on Jan-Apr 2005's figure when they shifted 354,147 units. Their combined total market share now sits at 8.0 pct, up from 6.9 pct year-on-year. Fiat branded vehicles account for 314,497 units (254,488 in Jan-Apr 2005) of this total, while Alfa Romeo have shifted 51,951 units (50,365 in Jan-Apr 2005) and Lancia 44,707 (47,097 in Jan April 2005.)

Fiat's 8.0 pct market share (412,743 sales so far this year) sees them continuing to close in on Renault's 9.1 pct (467,555) position just above them. While Fiat are up 16.5 pct for the first four months, Renault are down by a massive 9.9 pct. Amply demonstrating just how Fiat are now plugging the sales gap, last year from January to April Renault sold 519,099 units (a 10.1 pct market share) whereas Fiat had managed just 354,147 by this point, and were struggling on 6.9 pct.