Fiat Group Automobiles followed the sharp upward direction of new car market last month in Italy last month to post a 9.76 pct year-on-year rise. With 211,475 new vehicle registrations last month compared to 192,083 during the same period last year, the overall Italian new car market continued its very positive run and climbed by an impressive 10.10 pct year-on-year. And with a total 1,629,726 vehicles sold after seven months of the year the whole market is up by 7.11 pct on the same seven month period last year.

Fiat Group saw 64,623 new registrations last month, compared to 58,885 in July 2006, which put the domestic carmaker up 9.76 pct year-on-year and at the same time all three of the major Fiat Group Automobiles brands posted healthy rises, although only the Lancia division was able to outperform a surging overall market. The Fiat brand (including Fiat Professional) saw 49,057 unit sales last month compared to 44,775 during July 2006, meaning that with a 9.56 pct year-on-year rise it almost exactly mirrored the market.

Alfa Romeo posted a decent 6.65 pct year-on-year rise after selling 6,400 of its sporty cars last month compared to 6,001 in July of last year. Lancia, boosted by demand for the facelifted Ypsilon model as well as the new Sport MomoDesign version, recorded an impressive 9,010 unit sales total in July compared to 7,937 during the same month last year. This equated to a market-busting 13.52 pct year-on-year rise. Of Fiat's other specialist automotive brands Maserati sold 76 cars in July, while Ferrari recorded sales of 79. These figures added up to give the Fiat brand a 23.20 pct Italian market share (23.31 in July 2006), Alfa Romeo a 3.03 pct (3.12 pct in July 2006) and Lancia 4.26 pct (4.13 pct in July 2006).

After the first seven months of the year the Fiat Group has seen 514,008 new registrations as opposed to 467,016 during the same period last year, putting it up year-on-year by 10.07 pct. The Fiat brand has 353,195 unit sales this year to put it up 11.12 pct year-on-year, Alfa Romeo is on 50,047 units and up 5.80 pct, while Lancia has shifted 70,662 units and is up by 7.59 pct. For the year to date the Fiat Group has an overall market share of 31.55 pct, the Fiat brand has 24.08 pct (23,21 pct last year), Alfa Romeo has 3.07 pct (3.11 pct last year) and Lancia has 4.34 pct (4.32 pct last year).

The Fiat Punto (including the Grande Punto and the outgoing model combined) held its usual position well out on top of the Italian best-sellers list with 17,746 units sold in July.
 

The Panda (13,141) was in second place in the top-seller list in July while the Ypsilon (5,545) was in sixth place. For the year-to date the Punto model is also at the top, with 151,345 sales in seven months, the Panda (117,029) is in second place, while the Ypsilon (46,464) is fourth. The Punto was also the best selling diesel car in Italy last month with 8,705 sales, and the oil burning version has racked up 73,251 units for the year-to-date.

The Panda was top of A-segment last month with nearly four times the sales of its closest rival, the Smart ForTwo. The Punto easily topped B-segment, while in C-segment the new Bravo has now risen to the top of the standings. In a hotly-contested category the Bravo, with 4,925 units registered in July, came out in a tight contest ahead of the VW Golf (4,495), Ford Focus (4,387) and Opel Astra (4,172). The Alfa 147 (2,742) was the fifth best seller in C-segment. For YTD the Bravo, which was launched at the end of January, has notched up 26,079 sales in its category, while the Alfa 147 has amassed 21,776 unit registrations.

In D-segment the Alfa 159 (3,022) cemented its position at the top last month, ahead of its closest rival, the BMW 3-series (2,958). The Fiat Croma (1,471) was sixth. For YTD the Alfa 159 (22,337) is out on top of D-segment, ahead of the BMW 3-series (21,640), while the Fiat Croma (13,601) is in fourth place.

In the smaller SUV class the Sedici (1,462) was the best selling model, and it has amassed 12,299 unit sales so far this year which puts it less than 300 units behind the Toyota RAV4 which tops the category. The Multipla (1,333) was seventh in the compact MPV segment, while the Musa (3,181) was at the top of the small 'monovolume' category. The Musa is the clear best seller for YTD in 'monovolume', with an impressive 22,099 units sales. Elsewhere Alfa Romeo's niche sporty model line-up turned in a solid run: the Spider (134), the GT (321) and the Brera (122). Finally, the Doblò (674) as usual strode away from the opposition in its category (multispace) and it is the clear leader for YTD.