Fiat Group suffered a slower month of sales across Europe in March and while the overall market was up 11.1 percent and almost all its rivals gained ground year-on-year, the Italian carmaker was down 2.9 percent, which equated to a contraction of its market share by more than a full percentage point.

In fact only Toyota, mired in product recall woes, also lost ground year-on-year during March, the Japanese carmaker dropping by 13.4 percent, while Fiat Group's recent closest market rivals, Renault and GM, both gained much momentum, adding 32,000 and 15,000 units to their monthly totals above Fiat Group's 133,758 units. The biggest problem for Fiat Group was a dramatic slowdown in German sales last month which came in sharp contrast to an exceptionally strong March for the Italian firm last year on this market.

In March, new car registrations in the EU were 11.1 percent higher than in the same month of 2009. Over the first quarter of 2010 registrations rose by 9.2 percent compared to the first three months of last year. Registrations fell by 9.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

March 2010 counted on average one working day more than March 2009. Most major markets recovered ground compared to early 2009, reflecting the ongoing effect of government incentive programmes. In contrast, German registrations shrank by 26.6 percent to 294,375 units. In total, 1,637,478 new cars were registered in the EU. The UK accounted for almost 400,000 new cars, or 26.6 percent more than in 2009, thereby becoming the largest EU market this month. Registrations in Italy were up 19.6 percent and rose by 17.9 percent in France. Demand in Spain jumped by +63.1 percent compared to the low levels of 2009 (-38.7 percent), claiming fifth rank in absolute figures (124,756 units). Results in other European markets were mixed, with an increase by 40.6 percent in the Czech Republic and a drop by 53.3 percent in Hungary.

Over the first quarter of the year, 3,671,871 new passenger cars were registered in the EU, or 9.2 percent more than in the same quarter a year ago. Of the major markets, only Germany recorded negative results (-22.8 percent) while France (+16.9 percent), Italy (+23.3 percent), the UK (+27.3 percent) and Spain (+44.5 percent) all posted growth. In absolute figures, Germany ranked first (670,410 units), followed by Italy (666,231 units), the UK (611,548), France (594,720 units) and Spain (286,167 units).

Fiat Group saw 132,005 registrations across Europe last month, down 2.9 percent from the 135,993 units it recorded during the same period a year ago, and this caused its market share to fall from 9.2 to 8.1 percent. By contrast the biggest three carmakers in Europe were all up VW (+8.5 percent), PSA Peugeot-Citroën (+20.2 percent) and Ford (+19.3 percent), while France's other automotive manufacturer, Renault (+33.3 percent), was not far behind. GM, which has suffered a turbulent year, was up by 4.9 percent. The niche luxury German carmakers, BMW and Daimler, were up 13.8 and 3.5 percent respectively, leaving Toyota as the only other faller amongst the leading carmakers in Europe.

Of the Fiat Group's divisions, the Fiat brand was down 4.2 percent on 108,618 units during March which meant its market share slid from 7.7 to 6.6 percent, Lancia bounced up 18.2 percent to 13,057 units and raised its market share from 0.7 to 0.8 percent while Alfa Romeo dropped 12.2 percent after dipping under the ten thousand units barrier (9,509) and its share slipped from 0.7 to 0.6 percent. The Fiat Group's niche luxury/performance brands Ferrari and Maserati sold a combined total of 821 cars in Europe last month and this was up 5.5 percent on the same month last year.

For the first quarter of the year the European new car market is up 9.5 percent year-on-year with 3,671,871 cars registered, while Fiat Group's 322,006 units during the same period is up 5.6 percent and eighteen thousand units on last year, meaning its market share slips from 9.1 to 8.8 percent. Fiat Group's bigger rivals have all enjoyed a good start to the year, and after the first quarter VW is the most sluggish, up 6.1 percent, while PSA Peugeot-Citroën (+18.5 percent), Ford (+11.6 percent) and Renault (+39.9 percent) have all made double-digit gains.

The three Fiat Group Automobiles brands have all made a solid start to the year, the Fiat brand is up 4.6 percent year-on-year and just under twenty two thousand units, to 261,229 units; its market share thus slips from 7.4 to 7.1 percent. Lancia continues to steam ahead, 33,402 units for the first quarter equates to a 21.3 percent rise year-on-year and a rise in its market share from 0.8 to 0.9 percent, while Alfa Romeo is on 25,853 units, just three units less than the opening quarter of last year and that means its market share dips from 0.8 to 0.7 percent. Ferrari and Maserati meanwhile have a combined 1,522 units after three months, down 5.8 percent year-on-year.

Chrysler Group, now 20 percent owned by Fiat Group, continued its downward spiral in Europe as usual last month, managing 4,922 cars combined across its three brands Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, compared to 5,570 during the same month last year, adding up to a double-digit drop (-11.6 percent) and a fall in its market share from 0.4 to 0.3 percent. For the first quarter of the year Chrysler Group is on 10,591 registrations, two and a half thousand units and 18.5 percent down on the same period last year, and adding up to a similar market share fall from 0.4 to 0.3 percent.