With 43,559 vehicles sold in Italy during December, down 15.14 pct year-on-year, a better than expected result in light of the global recession, the Fiat Group ends the year having racked up 689,686 registrations in its home market, down 11.87 pct on 2007's achievements.

With 43,559 vehicles sold in Italy during December, down 15.14 pct year-on-year, a better than expected result in light of the ongoing severe global recession, the Fiat Group ends the year having racked up 689,686 registrations in its home market, down 11.87 pct on 2007's achievements.

The Italian market saw a total of 140,656 vehicles registered during December, putting it down 13.29 pct on the performance achieved during same month the previous year, and the lower than expected drop in sales saw Fiat Group shares on the Milan stock exchange climbing yesterday by 6.1 pct to close the day on 4.87 euros per share as financial investors, who had foreseen a worse showing, expressed their relief at the figures. The Fiat Group very slightly underperformed the overall market in December, and its share went from 31.65 to 30.97 pct year-on-year, according to the data released on Friday by automotive trade body UNRAE.

During December the Fiat brand (including the Fiat Professional and Abarth divisions) saw 34,277 unit sales, putting it down 16.32 pct year-on-year; Lancia continued its good run, it picked up 5,860 buyers to put it up by 8 pct, while Alfa  Romeo ended its tough year with 3,369 unit registration in December, putting it down 31.24 pct year-on-year. This left the Fiat brand with a 24.37 pct share of the overall Italian market (down from 25.25 pct in December 2007), Lancia claimed 4.17 pct (up from 3.34 pct), while Alfa Romeo took a 2.4 pct share (down from 3.04 pct). Of the Group's prestige brands Ferrari sold 16 cars and Maserati added 37.

In December the Fiat Panda (10,730) was once again Italy's best-selling car, finishing the final month of the year just ahead of the Fiat Punto (6,657), while the outgoing Car of the Year, the Fiat 500 (4,372), slipped to fifth place. The Lancia Ypsilon (3,183) dropped to ninth place last month. With 157,036 sales during 2008, the Punto is Italy's top-selling car of the year, almost ten thousand units ahead of the second placed Panda (148,173). The 500 (93,262) impressively made it three Fiat branded cars in the top-3, while the other Fiat Group contenders finishing in the top-10 for the year were the Ypsilon (54,899) in sixth and the Fiat Bravo (42,950) in tenth.

In the segments, the Panda and 500 occupied the top two positions in A-segment last month and for the full year; meanwhile the ageing Fiat 600 continued to find buyers, another 16,725 units of the tiny Polish-built car were shifted during 2008, putting it ninth in the class for small city cars. The Punto was comfortable at the top in B-segment in December, the Ypsilon sixth, and the Musa (1,647) tenth. For the full year the Punto finishes top, the Ypsilon fourth while the Musa (26,001) rounds out the top-10. In C-segment the Bravo added another 1,843 sales last month to occupy fourth in the category behind the VW Golf, Opel Astra and Ford Focus. One place back from the Bravo in December was the Sedici (1,815), while the Alfa 147 (1,161) wrapped up the top-10 in C-segment. For the full year the Bravo (42,950) is the second best seller in C-segment, just over six thousand units shy of the Golf while the Alfa 147 (20,811) continues to make its presence felt in fifth place. In D-segment during December the Croma (1,377) was third behind the BMW 3-series and Audi A4, while the Alfa 159 (979) in sixth place continued its recent struggle for sales. For the year, the Croma (21,802) is D-segment's third best-seller, just one position ahead of the 159 (21,166).

By coachwork, the Croma was Italy's best-selling station wagon in December, and is the second-best seller for the year (and best selling station wagon in D-segment). The Alfa 159 Sportwagon (12,801) becomes the sixth best selling estate car in Italy last year. Amongst the compact MPVs the Multipla (781) was fourth in December and for the year its 16,462 sales put it in third place. In the category for small MPVs, the Musa was second in December and the Fiat Idea (916) fourth, while for the year the Musa was the category's clear best-seller, ending 2008 almost six thousand units ahead of its closest rival, the Opel Meriva. The Idea (14,780) was fourth best selling small MPV for the year. In the category for large MPVs, the Phedra (158) was third in December and the Fiat Ulysse (63) eighth. For the full year the Phedra (2,578) is the third best seller while the Ulysse (1,868) is fifth.

Alfa Romeo's new MiTo is providing a bright spot after a very difficult year for the sporty brand, the 1,027 sales it added in December put it clear at the top of the category for coupé format cars in the final month of the year (BMW's 3-series coupé was a distant second in December on 226 units) and the 7,465 sales it has notched up since its summer arrival in the Italian showrooms pitch it to the top of the category for the year, although it has been on sale for less than six months. Alfa Romeo's ever-popular GT (125) was the fourth best-selling coupé in Italy during December, while the Brera (54) squeezed it Giugiaro-styled form back into the top-10 in ninth place. For the full 2008 the Alfa GT (1,785) is the sixth best-seller, while the Brera (1,049) rounds out the top-10. Amongst crossover category cars the Sedici was second in December. In 'multispace' the Fiat brand scored a solid top-2 lock out in December once again, the Fiorino (706) edging out the Doblò (498), while for the full year the roles are reversed, the Doblò (6,098) is the clear winner, more than 1,000 units ahead of Renault's Kangoo. The Fiorino (2,206), which went on sale well into the year in passenger-carrying format, ends up in fourth place.