The new Alfa Mito (2,395) bounced straight to the top of the category reserved for coupé cars and it has amassed 4,528 registrations since going on sale this summer.

The Italian new car market continued its recent sharp sales downturn during October, losing 18.89 pct year-on-year; Fiat Group though managed to outperform this deep slump, ending the month down 12.78 pct and in the process raising its total market share significantly to 33 pct, up from the 30.72 pct share it achieved a year ago. Last month Italy continued to feel the deep effects of the global economic downturn and the market saw 167,940 new passenger vehicles registered last month, with Fiat Group weighting in with 55,226 units of these.

Bucking the usual sales trend though, the Fiat brand (including the Fiat Professional and Abarth divisions) was the weakest year-on-year performer within the Fiat Group portfolio. With 42,715 units registered during October it was down -15.74 pct on the same month a year ago. Lancia meanwhile, buoyed by rising demand for the new Delta model, had a real barnstormer of a month: 7,574 sales put it just 0.69 pct down year-on-year. Alfa Romeo (4,840 units) completed a rosy picture for the two specialist FGA brands by pegging its year-on-year decline to just 5.80 pct. Its sales were significantly boosted by customers taking delivery of the new MiTo that made up for a decline in sales across the rest of its range. Of the prestige brands, Ferrari sold 39 cars in October, while Maserati added 58. All three FGA brands raised their market share year-on-year during October: Fiat took a 25.43 pct share of the Italian market last month, Lancia 4.51 pct and Alfa Romeo 2.88 pct.

After the first ten months of the year Fiat Group has amassed 602,295 registrations in its home market, down 9.86 pct on the same period last year; however with the total market (1,879,165 units) down by 11.97 pct in the same period, Fiat Group raises its year-on-year share of sales for the first ten months from 31.40 pct to 32.15 pct. Splitting the FGA brands up, Fiat (514,864) is the best performer, down 8.03 pct, for the year-to-date, while Lancia (81,643) is down 9.97 pct and Alfa Romeo (45,798) is down 27.76 pct.

Italy's best-selling car during October was the Fiat Panda (13,158) which once again knocked the Punto (10,806) off the top spot, with the Fiat 500 (9,156) winding up a close third. Lancia's Ypsilon (3,962) was the fifth biggest selling model. For the year-to-date the Punto (137,078) is the market's best-seller, followed by the Panda (126,311) and the 500 (86,660). The Ypsilon (48,826) is in fifth place year-to-date, while the Fiat Bravo (39,157) wraps up the top-ten.

In the segments, the Panda and 500 dominated A-segment as usual while the Seicento (1,452) still continues to find buyers. The Punto was in firm control of B-segment as ever, but in C-segment the Bravo (2,469) slipped to fourth place in October, although with 39,225 sales so far this year it is the second-best selling car in the category. Fifth place in the same segment went to the new Lancia Delta (2,102) as its deliveries start to climb. In D-segment the Alfa 159 (1,078) was sixth last month, two places ahead of the Fiat Croma (934). For the year-to-date the Croma has 19,658 sales, while the 159 is close behind with 19,537. Elsewhere the Fiat Sedici (1,277) topped its category, the Fiat Multipla (1,248) was second in the class reserved for mid-size MPVs, whilst the Musa (1,527) occupied a similar position amongst the small MPVs. The new Alfa Mito (2,395) bounced straight to the top of the category reserved for coupé cars and it has amassed 4,528 registrations since going on sale this summer. Finally the Fiat Doblò (465) occupied its customary position at the head of the Multispace category and it now has 5,210 sales for the year-to-date.