Fiat (top, Grande Punto) and Alfa Romeo (bottom, MiTo) both posted huge year-on-year gains in new car registrations in Germany last month, to finish May up 101.9 and 134.2 percent respectively as they took maximum advantage of the government subsidised 'scrappage' scheme.

Fiat and Alfa Romeo both posted huge year-on-year gains in new car registrations in Germany last month, to finish May up 101.9 and 134.2 percent respectively as they took maximum advantage of the government subsidised 'scrappage' scheme. This performance in Europe's key new car market followed another sterling sales month in April for both brands when the effects of the scheme kicked in.

Driven forward by the German government's incentives to scrap older cars, the overall new car market had an excellent May, to end the month 39.7 percent up year-on-year after a total of 384,578 cars were sold. After the first five months of the year 1,632,294 cars have been registered in Germany which is up 22.8 percent on the same period last year.

Fiat Group Automobiles has been able to capitalise on the 'scrappage' scheme, designed to kick-start car sales in the economic downturn, and following a strong month in April for all three brands, they were all in positive territory again last month. Fiat sold 17,255 in Germany during May, more than double the number it saw bought in the country during the same month last year, to give it a 4.5 percent share of the market last month. Driven by demand for the new MiTo, Alfa Romeo saw 1,403 sales in May, up a massive 134.2 percent year-on-year, to give it an 0.4 percent share of all new car sales for the month. Lancia was also in positive territory thanks to demand for the new Delta as well as the resilience of the Ypsilon and Musa, the 344 cars it sold in Germany during May put it up 8.5 percent year-on-year although it underperformed the overall market's rise. It took a 0.1 percent share of the German market.

The market's biggest player, the VW brand, had a very strong month, and with 82,104 cars registered it was up 60.2 percent year-on-year as its range of smaller, efficient cars hooked into current market sentiment, although it's year-on-year rise was well below what Fiat achieved. This gave VW a 21.4 percent share of its domestic market. The second biggest player on the German market last month was another national brand, Opel, the GM Europe division that has been recently courted by Fiat. Up 57.1 percent year-on-year after seeing 39,250 registrations, Opel, which is now trying to tie up a takeover deal with Austro-Canadian car parts maker Magna International, took a 10.2 percent share of the market. The three 'prestige' German brands were once again the big losers after being shunned by buyers: BMW (including the MINI brand) with 27,013 cars sold was down 6.7 percent year-on-year while Mercedes-Benz with 25,255 units dropped 2.4 percent and Audi with 21,254 units lost 5.5 percent. The biggest winner in Germany in May was Hyundai, after selling 9,067 cars it was up 146.1 percent year-on-year. The other big winners last month included Renault/Dacia (26,825; + 117.0 percent), 18,667; + 71.5 percent), SEAT (7,620; + 92.4 percent) and Lada (382, +105.4 percent).

After the first five months of the year Fiat has sold 85,164 cars in Germany to give it a 5.4 percent share of the overall market and put it up 112.8 percent year-on-year. Alfa Romeo has an 0.3 percent share of all sales after shifting 5,161 cars for the year-to-date, and it is up a massive 120.1 percent year-on-year. Lancia meanwhile completes the rosy picture, it is also up year-on-year for January to May: with 1,713 cars sold it is up 11.5 percent and has a 0.1 share of the market.