Alfa Romeo, which was in the midst of its key Pomigliano d'Arco factory closure for refurbishment this time last year added 4,472 units in February, and this put it up a huge 51.23 pct year-on-year.

Italy suffered another month of sharply falling car sales during February, however Fiat Group with 53,138 registrations across its brands was able to outperform the overall market to raise its share from 31.08 to 32.15 percent year-on-year. A total of 169,289 passenger vehicles were sold in Italy last month, putting the market down 24.45 year-on-year. The registration data was released this afternoon by motor trade body UNRAE.

The Fiat Group was down 21.86 pct year-on-year last month, which outperformed the average Italian market drop of 24.45 pct. Splitting up the brands, Fiat (including Fiat Professional and Abarth) saw 41,414 registrations during February and it was down 25.67 pct while Lancia with 7,111 units last month lost 22.32 pct. Alfa Romeo, which was in the midst of its key Naples factory closure for refurbishment this time last year added 4,472 units in February and this put it up 51.23 pct year-on-year. The two specialist brands, Ferrari and Maserati, sold 83 and 58 cars respectively last month.

There were four Fiat Group cars represented amongst the top-ten selling vehicles in Italy last month. The Fiat Panda (13,222) was the country's best-selling car followed by the Punto (10,670), with the 500 (7,685) in fourth. Lancia's Ypsilon (3,254) rounded out the top-ten. After the first two months of the year the Panda (25,385) is Italy's best-selling car ahead of the Punto (21,465).

The Panda topped A-segment last month ahead of the 500, while the elderly Seicento (1,328) was ninth. In B-segment the Punto/Grande Punto was the category leader, the Alfa MiTo (2,321) was eighth, and Lancia's Musa (2,203) squeezed into the top-ten in ninth place. In C-segment the Fiat Bravo (2,245) was fourth and the Lancia Delta (1,438) seventh, while in D-segment the Fiat Croma (1,084) was fifth, one place ahead of the Alfa 159 (1,070). Amongst the categories, the Fiat Sedici (1,080) was the best selling four-wheel-drive vehicle, the MiTo was the market's favourite coupé, and the Fiorino (776) and Doblò (332) made it a 1-2 for Fiat in 'Multispace'.