Fiat once again powered away from its closest rivals in Europe during December with its registrations up 8.5 percent year-on-year, and the result left the Italian firm as the most improved carmaker in Europe last year. The data was released by European car manufacturer trade body ACEA this morning, and it covers the 23 members of the European Union plus the three European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) signatories: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

A total of 15,364,997 new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were registered in Europe last year, up by 0.7 percent on 2005’s total. Fiat was the fastest-growing carmaker year-on-year after it sold 1,156,152 vehicles during 2006, up 16.9 percent on 2005’s total of 989,269; it was a revival that was driven primarily by demand for the new Grande Punto model and a result which is a glowing endorsement of the new strategy put in place by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. This performance helped to raise the Turin firm’s total European market share from 6.5 to 7.5 percent year-on-year.

Of the Fiat Auto individual brand portfolio, the Fiat brand (including Light Commercial Vehicles) was the best performer, up 20.9 percent (with 890,149 units registered last year compared to 736,563 in 2005), well ahead of Alfa Romeo which itself posted in an excellent turnaround in fortunes: following a run of new model launches, the division climbed 12.2 percent year-on-year (144,912 in 2006; 129,122 in 2005).  Meanwhile, the Lancia brand shed 1.8 percent (116,271 in 2006; 118,448 in 2005).  This very positive run raised Alfa Romeo’s overall European market share from 0.8 to 0.9 percent, while Lancia remained steady on 0.8 percent.

These highly satisfying results came after Fiat Auto turned in an excellent final month of 2006. During December, the Turinese carmaker was up 8.5 percent year-on-year, a result only topped by its smaller European marketplace rival DaimlerChrysler.
 

74,106 new Fiat vehicles were sold during December, up from 68,297 in December 2005, raising its market share from 6.4 to 6.9 percent year-on-year. The Fiat brand (including LCVs) was up 6.6 percent year-on-year as 56,718 vehicles were registered, as opposed to 53,192 during the same period the previous year. Alfa Romeo had another barnstorming month, up 25.9 percent as 10,244 of its cars arrived on the European roads, compared to 8,138 units during December 2005.  Lancia was also in positive territory, up 2.3 percent as 6,921 vehicles were sold, compared to 6,766 in December 2005. This meant that the Fiat brand was up by 0.3 percent year-on-year to 5.3 percent, Alfa Romeo’s European market share was up 0.2 percent to 1.0 percent, while Lancia remained steady on 0.6 percent.

Overall it was a very promising year for Fiat, with sales up 16.9 percent year-on-year, cementing its position as the fastest-growing car manufacturer in Europe. None of its rivals could even come close: Europe’s biggest carmaking group, VW/Audi, was up 5.3 percent, while the only other members of the top ten to post gains were Toyota Group (9.7 percent), BMW Group (1.8 percent) and DaimlerChrysler (0.8 percent). The big losers during 2006 included the second-biggest European car manufacturer, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, which lost 2.1 percent; the third-largest, Ford Europe, which shed 0.7 percent; fourth-largest General Motors, down 2.7 percent; and the fifth-biggest, Renault, which dropped a massive 11 percent. With Renault registering 1,324,119 vehicles (including its low-cost Dacia brand) last year, compared to Fiat’s 1,156,152, the French carmaker is firmly in the sights of the rejuvenated Italian firm for 2007.