Fiat Auto saw sales in its home market rising by 0.95 percent last month, outperforming the overall market which fell by 2.55 pct, according to data released by Italian motor industry body ANFIA. 139,172 new vehicles were sold in Italy during December, 2.55 pct down on the same period in 2005, when 142,819 units were registered. Fiat's performance was comfortably above those of the imported brands which fell by 4 pct.

Fiat saw 42,256 vehicles registered in Italy during December, 0.95 pct up year-on-year, as 41,853 units were sold on their home market a year ago; and with a 30.36 pct market share it kept them well above important 30 pct threshold, more than a percentage point up on December 2005's 29.31 pct.

The Fiat brand (including Light Commercial Vehicles) concluded last year in positive territory, up 1.85 pct year on year, as 32,517 vehicles were sold last month compared to 31,927 units during December 2005. This raised Fiat's share from 22.35 to 23.36 pct. Alfa Romeo meanwhile was virtually unchanged, down by 0.14 as 4,228 cars were registered last month which was just 6 units down on the same period last year. With the overall Italian market slipping, Alfa Romeo's own share climbed from 2.96 to 3.04 pct as Fiat's "sporty" brand consolidated its position. Lancia lost 3.43 pct after it saw 5,456 vehicles registered last month, compared to 5,650 in December 2005. This saw Fiat's "luxury" brand lose 0.04 pct of its market share, to finish the month on 3.92 pct. Of the specialist brands Maserati was up 13.79 pct (33 cars last month compared to 29 in the same period the previous year) while Ferrari was up 46.15 pct (19 cars as opposed to 13 in December 2005).

Fiat thus closed the year in Italy having sold 714,520 new vehicles, up by 13.96 pct on what it achieved in terms of sales during 2005, putting its home market share on 30.79 pct for the year, as opposed to the 28.03 pct share it achieved in 2005.
 

The Fiat brand (including Light Commercial Vehicles) accounted for 543,118 unit sales last year, up 17.00 pct year-on-year (464,184 in 2005) which in turn raised their market share from 20.75 pct in 2005 to 23.40 pct last year. Alfa Romeo wrapped up the year with 71,776 registrations, up 15.74 pct on 2005 when 62,013 sales were recorded. This raised Alfa Romeo's share of their home market from 2.77 to 3.09 pct. Lancia meanwhile notched up 98,444 registrations last year, down 1.12 pct on 2005 when 99,559 units were sold, the brand's Italian market share slipping from 4.45 to 4.24 pct. The fourth Fiat Auto member, Maserati, shed 9.72 pct as it recorded sales of 557 units last year, compared to 617 in 2005.

The Fiat Grande Punto (including the outgoing model) was the best selling car in Italy during December with 12,939 units being registered. This left the model on a total of 229,623 sales for the year, far ahead of the second placed Panda which ended the year with 148,877 sales after 9,192 units of the A-segment model were shifted last month. The Lancia Ypsilon was the sixth best selling car of the year, with 64,602 unit sales (3,380 in December). The Grande Punto (including the outgoing model) was also Italy's best selling diesel car last month with 6,648 sales compared to the second placed Ford Focus (3,637), while the Fiat Stilo and Croma both slipped into the top ten in seventh (2,047) and ninth place (1,759) respectively. For the whole of 2006, the Punto models accounted for 122,634 sales in diesel format, while the Panda was the fourth best selling diesel (45,129), the Alfa 147 finished in eighth place (27,756) and the Lancia Ypsilon rounded out the oil burning top ten (26,750).