According to research body JATO Dynamics, the Fiat Punto - including Punto Classic, Grande Punto and the new Punto EVO (above) combined - was the fifth best-selling car in Europe last month.

Boosted by a surging domestic market Fiat Group turned in a very strong sales performance across Europe during January, and with 98,752 units registered the Italian carmaker was up 19.9 percent year-on-year, comfortably beating the overall market which climbed 13 percent. A total of 1,058,868 new cars were sold in Europe during January according to automotive industry trade body ACEA.

In January, new passenger car registrations in the European Union increased by 12.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, influenced by the continuing effect of fleet renewal schemes in a number of Western European countries. The month counted on average one working day less across the EU. Compared to January 2008, registration decreased by 17.3 percent.

Registrations were up in a majority of countries, ranging from +0.3 percent in Slovakia to +62.1 percent in Portugal. Among the larger markets, France (+14.3 percent), Spain (+18.1 percent), the UK (+29.8 percent) and Italy (+30.2 percent) all fared better than in January 2009. Germany (-4.3 percent) was the only major market to decline, with results reflecting the discontinuation of the country’s fleet renewal programme in the autumn of last year. The Romanian market decreased by 84.6 percent. In total, 1,058,868 new cars were registered in the EU.

With 98,752 units registered in January compared to 82,351 during the same month a year ago, Fiat Group was up 19.9 percent year-on-year to raise its share of the total European market from 8.8 to 9.3 percent. All three Fiat Group Automobiles brands' were up year-on-year with Fiat Automobiles leading the way in terms of volume: it saw 79,850 registrations, putting it up 20.6 percent year-on-year, which raised its market share from 7.1 to 7.5 percent. Lancia's 10,038 vehicles was up 27.9 percent year-on-year and its overall European market share was up 0.1 percent to 0.9 percent, while Alfa Romeo's 8,463 units left it up 9.2 percent on the same month a year ago with its market share remaining unchanged on 0.8 percent. The Fiat Group's niche performance/luxury brands Ferrari and Maserati had a less rosy January: with 401 units registered combined, they were down 24.3 percent when compared to last January. Fiat's transatlantic alliance partner Chrysler Group saw its sales continue to collapse unabated despite the market rise, its meager 2,922 units combined across the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands left it down 26.4 percent year-on-year and with the worst European performance of any carmaker.

According to automotive research body JATO Dynamics, the Fiat Punto (including the Punto Classic, Grande Punto and the new Punto EVO combined) was the fifth best-selling car in Europe last month; and with 27,447 registrations compared to 17,119 for the opening month last year, the B-segment hatchback's sales were up 60.3 percent year-on-year. The Panda in ninth place saw its sales climb by more than a quarter to make it two Fiat branded models in the Europe-wide top-ten for January. The A-segment city car's 21,953 units last month versus the 17,532 it achieved during the same month a year ago left it up 25.2 percent year-on-year. The Volkswagen Golf continued to draw in more buyers than any other model in Europe during January, beating Ford’s Fiesta by 2,653 units. These two remain well clear of other top sellers, but the Renault Clio can claim to be most improved, with a 90.3 percent sales increase, while Volkswagen’s new Polo lifted its sales by 71.5 percent.