Fiat Auto turned in another very impressive month of sales across Europe during November, the Italian carmaker up a healthy 15.1 pct year-on-year, with the Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands' being the best performers in the division, up by 17.7 and 17.1 pct respectively; reveals data just released by European automotive manufacturer trade body ACEA. On top of this excellent performance Fiat Auto took its market share ahead of its nearest bigger rival, the Renault Group, as well, the Italians grabbing a 7.8 pct pan-European market share compared to the 7.6 pct recorded by the French firm, who in turn saw their sales down a massive 18.2 pct year-on-year.

Across the continent new vehicle registrations were up 3.9 percent year-on-year during the month of November counting the twenty-three full European Union (EU) member nations plus the three European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) signatory countries, as 1,221,393 vehicles arrived on the roads last month, compared to 1,175,404 during the same period last year.

With 95,225 new vehicles registered last month (82,729 units in Nov 2005) Fiat Auto registered a 15.1 pct year-on-year rise, letting their market share climb 0.8 pct year-on-year to 7.8 pct. The Fiat brand (including LCV) was the best performer in the Auto Division portfolio, up 17.7 pct with 74,394 new vehicles hitting the European roads compared to 63,209 units during the same period last year.
 

Alfa Romeo also turned in an excellent performance last month with 11,530 new cars registered, as opposed to 9,850 during Nov 2005, equating to a 17.1 pct year-on-year rise. Lancia slipped slightly though: 9,088 new vehicles last month compared to 9,382 a year ago, being 3.1 pct down year -on-year. Alfa Romeo thus saw its pan-European market share climb from 0.8 to 0.9 pct while Lancia slipped a percentage point from 0.8 to 0.7 pct.

For the year to date 14,289,992 new vehicles have been registered across Europe (EU+EFTA), up 0.8 pct on the 14,184,184 vehicles registered during Jan-Nov 2005. The Fiat Auto Division has seen 1,081,928 new vehicles registered so far this year, up 17.5 pct on the 921,010 units which were shifted during the first eleven months of 2005. The Fiat brand (including LCV), with 833,415 units this year compared to 683,410 sold during Jan-Nov last year is up 21.9 pct; while Alfa Romeo with 134,609 units this year as opposed to 120,984 during the same period last year is up 11.3 pct. Lancia is down 2.1 pct year-on-year with 109,359 units sold this year, slightly down on the 111,682 units it managed during Jan-Nov 2005.