More positive sales news for Fiat Group in Italy last month was to be found in the performance of the new Lancia Delta, which posted fifth in its segment.

The Fiat Group performed satisfactorily in another tough month for the Italian car market in September, managing to limit their slide to just above that of the market’s. The group experienced a 5.95 per cent fall in sales year-on-year, relative to a fall in the overall market of 5.51 per cent, to leave their total market share at 30.89 per cent, down from 31.03 in September 2007.

Fiat (including Fiat Professional and Abarth) suffered the most of the group’s three mainstream brands, sliding 7.04 per cent year-on-year, due mostly to a large fall in sales of the brand’s core Grande Punto model. Alfa Romeo posted a slightly smaller decline of 6.89 per cent, aided by deliveries getting underway in earnest of the new MiTo hatchback, whilst Lancia posted a gain of 0.98 per cent, aided by increasing sales of the new Delta, and in the process wrested the mantle of seventh-best-selling marque in Italy, at the expense of BMW. This leaves the Fiat brand’s market share for the month at 23.90 per cent, Alfa at 2.65 per cent, and Lancia at 4.28 per cent. Brands to enjoy strong positive gains included Audi (+23.80 per cent), Jaguar (+21.15), Mazda (+20.68) and Toyota (+21.98), while those which slipped significantly included BMW (-26.84), Honda (-21.48), Hyundai (-32.89), Mercedes-Benz (-21.47), Mini (-35.97), Porsche (-50.52), Renault (-20.24) and Volvo (-27.86).

For the year-to-date, against an overall market drop of 11.33 per cent, the Fiat brand continues to best its 2007 market share (25.19 per cent compared to 24.08 per cent), while Lancia has edged ahead of its 2007 share (4.33 per cent compared to 4.31 in 2007). Alfa Romeo also continues to recover ground, following the impact of its factory closure earlier in the year – its year-to-date market share stands at 2.40 per cent, as opposed to 3.02 in 2007.

Breaking down the results by segment, Fiat once again dominated the A-segment, with the Panda and 500 both increasing their sales year-on-year.  Despite enduring a decline of nearly 6000 units, the Punto retained its leadership of B-segment, ahead of the Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris. Lancia’s Ypsilon supermini maintained its strong momentum, placing fourth in B-segment, whilst Alfa’s crucial new MiTo model was eleventh in terms of registrations, just one unit adrift of the Mini.

In C-segment, the Fiat Bravo lost its year-to-date leadership to the Volkswagen Golf, and slipped to fourth in the monthly totals, just one unit behind the Nissan Qashqai. More positive news for Fiat Group however was to be found in the performance of the new Lancia Delta, which posted fifth in segment. Alfa Romeo’s venerable 147, meanwhile, suffered a significant decline year-on-year, but remains sixth overall in segment for the year-to-date.

In D-segment, a stellar month for Audi’s new A4 made life difficult for rivals. Nevertheless, Fiat’s Croma more than held its own, posting a unit increase year-on-year to maintain second place in the year-to-date standings behind BMW’s 3-Series. Alfa Romeo’s 159 remains third for the year-to-date, despite a weak month in September.

Across niche models, Fiat’s new Fiorino continued to post solid results in the ‘multispace’ category, climbing to fourth place behind the class-leading Doblò. Lancia’s Phedra MPV likewise did well, consolidating its third position for the year-to-date amongst large MPVs, although sales of the marque’s Musa mini-MPV dipped by almost half year-on-year, although it retains its best-selling mantle for the year-to-date. The ageing Fiat Multipla likewise did well, also increasing unit sales year-on-year, and the Sedici retained its status as Italy’s best-selling off-roader for the year-to-date.

Maserati, meanwhile, had another excellent month, significantly increasing sales of both its Granturismo and Quattroporte year-on-year, to record a percentage increase of 46.51 per cent, whilst Ferrari also posted a solid gain of 9.68 per cent, on the back of increased deliveries of its F430. 

by Shant Fabricatorian