Fiat Group recorded 112,038 new vehicle registrations across Europe last month, which was down 6.3 pct year-on-year, however the carmaker outperformed the overall market (-7.9 pct) and raised its market share from 7.7 to 7.9 pct.

Reflecting overall difficult economic circumstances, European new passenger car registrations fell 2.0 per cent in the first half of 2008. Rising inflation and soaring fuel prices were among the main factors influencing new registrations. The largest European markets responded in different ways, however, with Germany and France continuing on a growth path (+3.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively), contrasting with a sizable decline of the Spanish and Italian markets (-17.6 per cent and -11.5 per cent respectively). In total, 8,344,177 new cars were registered over the first six months of the year. The British market performed better than forecast, with a decrease of 1.6 per cent.

In June alone, the European market contracted by 7.9 per cent. No calendar effect occurred as the number of working days was the same as in 2007 for the vast majority of countries. The monthly figure reveals a similar pattern: in France (+1.5 per cent) and Germany (+1.0), the number of registrations increased, while the markets in the UK (-6.1), Italy (-19.5) and Spain (-30.8) deteriorated. In total, 1,427,008 new cars were registered in June.

With the exception of Hungary (-2.2 per cent), Estonia (-11.2) and Latvia (-32.2), all the new EU member states posted growth in the first half year, resulting in a 6.9 per cent increase for the whole region. Poland and Romania were again the two leading markets with about 150,000 new passenger cars registered from January to June. Monthly figures showed a less buoyant situation as the new EU member states registered altogether 106,906 new vehicles, or 3.7 per cent less than in June last year.

Fiat Group recorded 112,038 new registrations across Europe last month which outperformed the overall market which was down 6.3 pct but outperformed the market (-7.9 pct). Breaking down the results across individual brands, Fiat (including LCVs and Abarth) was affected by the significant downturn in the Italian market, posting a 2.5 per cent decline year-on-year, although this still represented the third-best performance (behind Ford and Volvo) amongst the brands of the European ‘Big Six’. Lancia, awaiting the widespread rollout of the crucial new Delta across Europe, posted a 9.3 per cent decline, whilst Alfa Romeo was off 27.5 per cent, as it awaits a revival in its fortunes from the new compact MiTo. Assessed from a group standpoint, Fiat posted a 6.3 per cent decline in June, albeit still outperforming the overall market. This compares with a similar decline for VAG (-6.1), Daimler (-6.0) and Renault (-5.6), whilst big losers included PSA (-9.7), the newly-independent Jaguar-Land Rover (-21.2), GM (-13.1) and Toyota (-18.1), while BMW (+1.7) and Ford (+0.8) posted modest gains year-on-year. Fiat Group’s market share for the month was 7.9 per cent (up from 7.7 in June 2007), broken down as follows: Fiat (6.3 per cent, up 0.3); Lancia (0.7, down 0.1); and Alfa (0.7, down 0.3).

For the half-year up to and including June, the Fiat group fell by 2.5 per cent, underperforming the market by half a percentage point. The Fiat brand is up 3.3 per cent, but this has been balanced by significant declines for Lancia (-10.0) and Alfa Romeo (-34.6). This takes the group’s market share to 8.1 per cent (from 8.2 last year), with Fiat posting a 0.4 per cent gain (6.7), Lancia remaining steady on a 0.8 per cent share, and and Alfa falling 0.4, to 0.6 per cent.