Fiat Group managed to outperform its main rivals in Europe last month and steer clear of the overall market's 8.2 pct year-on-year sales slump to end the month having shed just 1.4 pct year-on-year. Photo: Fiat this week is introducing a Natural Power version of the Grande Punto, a new dual fuel (petrol/methane) version that confirms the brand’s commitment to the field of environmental protection.

Fiat Group managed to outperform its main rivals in Europe last month and steer clear of the overall market's 8.2 pct year-on-year sales slump to end the month having shed just 1.4 pct year-on-year. In fact only one of its rivals, VW Group, performed better, and pleasingly the Italian carmaker's best performing division was the Lancia brand which gained 5.8 pct year-on-year, thanks to demand for the new Delta model, to allow the luxury unit to add impetus to the Fiat brand's steady result.

New car registrations in Europe fell by 8.2 pct in September compared to the same month last year, despite two working days extra across the region. Usually, September is a strong month for car sales that tend to pick up after the calmer summer months. In absolute numbers, registrations stalled at 1,304,653 units, or the lowest September level since 1998. Three quarters of the way into 2008, and a total of 11,713,937 new passenger cars were registered, or -4.4 pct less than over the same period of last year.

The drop in registrations confirms the aggravating market circumstances, as the fall-out of the financial crisis hits auto manufacturers hard. The credit crunch weighs on the sector’s ability to finance daily operations and sustain the high level of investments needed to support the market transition to low-emission vehicles. At the same time, demand for new cars is weakening because of the deteriorating economic circumstances. Customers are increasingly hesitant to make large expenditures and find it more difficult to get their purchase financed.

Markets in Western Europe registered 1,211,378 new cars in September, or 9.3 pct less than in the same month last year. Despite the current negative economic climate, the French market proved to be robust, growing by a sound 8.4 pct, compensating the drop in August sales (-7.1 pct). With a slight decrease of 1.5 pct, the German market remained stable in September, following a 10.4 pct decrease in August. The Italian market fell by 5.5 pct. The steepest declines came from the UK (-21.2 pct) and Spain (-32.2 pct). Cumulative figures from January to September result in a 5 pct decrease in Western Europe. France and Germany remained strong markets, with a respective growth of 3.4 pct and 1.3 pct. Registrations in the British (-7.5 pct), Italian (-11.3 pct) and Spanish (-22.0 pct) markets dropped compared to the three-quarter figures for 2007.

Markets in the new EU Member States recorded growth (+7.8 pct) in September with 93,275 new vehicles registered. Of the four largest markets, only the Hungarian contracted (-4.3 pct). The Czech Republic (+32.2 pct), Romania (+17.4 pct) and Poland (+1.8 pct) all posted growth. Over the first nine months of the year, new passenger car registrations in this region have risen by 3.0 pct, thanks to robust markets in Poland (+8.8 pct) and the Czech Republic (+10.4 pct).

Amongst the big European carmaking groups only VW Group (+1.4 pct) outperformed Fiat Group (-1.4 pct) thanks to impressive figures from its Audi and Skoda units. PSA Peugeot-Citroën (-9.0 pct), Ford (-11.4 pct) and GM (-18.1 pct) all had a dismal September, while completing the groups above Fiat, Renault (-2.1 pct) also lost ground. Below Fiat, BMW (-15.4 pct), Toyota (-6.8 pct), Daimler (-6.3 pct) and Nissan (-5.2 pct), all struggled for sales as European consumers steered clear of the showrooms.

Fiat Group saw 97,553 unit registrations across its brands during September, compared to 98,894 during the same period a year ago, and with the overall market falling, the Italian firm raised its share from 7.0 to 7.5 pct as it capitalised on its rivals woes. The Fiat brand (including the Fiat Professional and Abarth divisions) accounted for the bulk of the group's registrations, 78,992, and this left it virtually unchanged year-on-year at -0.4 pct; Lancia, with 9,311 registrations, was up 5.8 pct, while Alfa Romeo, on 8,769 units, lost 15.6 pct. This all meant that the Fiat brand raised its market share from 5.6 to 6.1 pct, Lancia climbed 0.1 to 0.7 pct, while Alfa Romeo stayed steady on 0.7 pct. The Fiat Group' prestige brands, Ferrari and Maserati, added 481 sales between them last month which put the up 24.6 pct year-on-year.

After the first nine months of the year Fiat Group has 938,814 registrations, which is down 2.6 pct on the same period of last year. However, with the total market falling by 4.4 pct so far this year, it means that the Italian group raises its market share from 7.9 to 8.0 pct year-on-year. Splitting the brands up, Fiat is on 765,277 (+2.1 pct), Lancia is on 89,487 (-7.8 pct) and Alfa Romeo is on 78,619 (-30.6 pct); meanwhile Ferrari and Maserati have a combined total of 5,431 (+24.5 pct) for the first nine months of the year.