Lancia, bolstered by growing demand for the stylish new Delta model, was the star performer in the Fiat brand portfolio during October, it ignored the market slump and was up 6.9 pct after shifting 9,789 units

Fiat Group rode out much of the sharp downturn in new cars sales across Europe in October, the Italian firm lost 7.9 pct year-on-year which compared very well with the overall market's 14.5 pct drop and boosted its market share to 8.3 pct. Reflecting the financial and economic crisis, new car registrations have now decreased for six consecutive months, most notably since the summer. Cumulative figures over January to October show a minus of 5.4 pct.

October new car registrations in Europe (EU27 + EFTA) reached a total of 1,134,031 units. Registrations over the first ten months of the year added up to 12,852,387 new vehicles. No calendar effect occurred in October as the number of working days were about the same compared to 2007 across the whole region.

Markets in Western Europe registered 1,034,955 new cars in October, or 15.5 pct less compared to last year. With the exception of Austria (+4.0 pct), all markets contracted. The Irish and the Spanish markets continued their sharply downward trend, plummeting -54.6 pct and -40.0 pct respectively in October, and down -18.2 pct and -23.8 pct over the first ten months of the year. In Spain, registrations in October were the lowest since 1995. In the UK, demand for new cars was down 23.0 pct, with cumulative results from January to October showing an 8.8 pct decline. For the tenth consecutive month, new registrations were down on the Italian market (-18.9 pct), resulting in a 12.0 pct drop in the cumulative results. In Germany, October new car registrations were 8.2 pct lower than the already weak result of last year. In France, the market recorded a 7.4 pct fall. Ten months into 2008, both Germany and France still have a stable number of newly registered cars compared to 2007, recording a +0.3 pct and +2.2 pct change respectively over the year onto October.

Registrations of new cars in the new EU Member States also declined in October (-3.2 pct), with cumulative results holding grounds at a 2.5 pct plus over the first ten months of the year. The Polish market expanded in October (+12.3 pct), as well as from January to October (+9.0 pct), consolidating its position as the largest market in the region. Romania, despite a 10.6 pct fall in October remained the second biggest market.

Amongst the big manufacturing groups there was a real bloodbath during the October month, only VW Group (-7.3 pct) and Fiat Group (-7.9 pct) were adequately cushioned against the steep slump in sales. Behind VW, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Europe's second biggest carmaker, lost 16.3 pct, followed by Ford (-11.9 pct), GM (-25.2 pct) and Renault (-19.1 pct). Below Fiat, BMW (-10.4 pct), Toyota (-23.6 pct), Daimler (-16.6 pct) and Nissan (-16.4 pct) wrapped up the top-ten groups, and the quartet all recorded double digits losses. In fact Fiat came within 500 units of outselling GM, the fourth biggest group in Europe, during October.

Fiat Group saw 93,952 registrations last month, compared to 102,016 during the same period a year ago; and this put it down 7.9 pct year-on-year, but with the overall market down almost double this, Fiat was pleasingly able to raise its share of the market from 7.7 to 8.3 pct year-on-year. The Fiat brand (including the Fiat Professional and Abarth divisions) saw 74,828 registrations during October, and it was down 8.4 pct; Lancia meanwhile, bolstered by growing demand for the new Delta, was the star performer, up 6.9 pct after shifting 9,789 units; while Alfa Romeo wrapped up the brand portfolio, it lost 15.7 pct after selling 8,959 of its sporty-orientated cars. This all means that the Fiat brand raises its European market share from 6.2 to 6.6 pct, Lancia climbs up from 0.7 to 0.9 pct, while Alfa Romeo remains unchanged on 0.8 pct.

After the first 10 months of the year the Fiat Group has seen a total of 1,032,594 registrations, which puts it down 3.2 pct year-on-year. It's market share though satisfyingly climbs from 7.9 to 8.0 pct. The Fiat brand accounts for 840,059 (+1.1 pct) of the total sales to the end of October, Lancia has 99,266 (-6.6 pct) registrations, while Alfa Romeo is on 87,449 (-29.4 pct). Fiat's market share for the year-to-date climbs from 6.1 to 6.5 pct year-on-year, while Lancia is unchanged on 0.8 pct, and Alfa Romeo slips from 0.9 to 0.7 pct.