Fiat Auto has kicked off the new year in strong form in Italy as it shifted 77,934 vehicles during the month of January which allowed its domestic sales to rise by 5.61 percent year-on-year, helping it to outperform the overall national market which climbed by 3.52 percent. This raised Fiat Auto's overall Italian market share to a healthy 31.42 percent, up by 0.62 percent compared to the 30.80 percent share it achieved in January 2006 when 73,807 units were registered.

The Fiat brand (including the Light Commercial Vehicles division) was up 6.51 percent year-on-year, with 59,991 units registered last month compared to the 56,326 that were sold during the same period of the previous year. This allowed their total Italian market share to rise from 23.50 to 24.18 percent.

Alfa Romeo was the best percentage rising performer of the Fiat Auto brand portfolio, up by 8.28 percent year-on-year. This equated to 7,728 of their sporty cars being sold during January, compared to 7,137 in the same period the year before, and it raised their overall Italian market share from 2.98 to 3.12 percent. Lancia meanwhile were down 1.18 percent with 10,068 units registered last month compared to 10,188 in January 2006.
 

The 'luxury' brand's market share thus slipped very slightly from 4.25 to 4.06 percent. The final Fiat Auto member, Maserati, was down 2.99 percent (65 units last month compared to 67 in Jan 2006) while the Fiat Group's Ferrari division was up 2.50 percent (82 units last month compared to 80 in January 2006).

With 24,473 unit sales last month the Fiat Grande Punto (including the outgoing Punto model) took up its usual position at the top of the Italian market bestseller lists. The Panda model meanwhile, boosted by demand for the new 100HP version, had a storming sales month with 18,046 units shifted. With 6,755 sales, the Lancia Ypsilon was the sixth best selling car in Italy last month. The Punto was also Italy's highest selling diesel car in Italy during January, with 11,836 sales. The Panda was the fourth selling diesel (4,878) while the Multijet-powered Alfa 159 was in tenth place (2,907).