Fiat Group Automobiles
(FGA) has suffered another torrid month in Germany as
Europe’s biggest market continues to contract sharply:
the Fiat brand, one of the biggest winners from the "scrappage"
scheme this time last year, saw its sales half
year-on-year last month. Alfa Romeo and Lancia completed
a bleak picture for FGA, their German sales shrank both
by two thirds year-on-year during May. A total of
249,708 new passenger cars were sold in Germany last
month and that was down by more than a third (-35.1
percent) on the same month last year.
Fiat Automobiles saw
8,744 registrations during May, that was down by a half
(-49.3 percent) on the same month last year when its
small, efficient cars, the Panda, 500 and Grande Punto,
were finding rich favour with German buyers tempted into
the showrooms in droves to take advantage of lavish
incentive deals offered by the government which was
looking to kick start an economy rendered moribund by
the global financial crisis. This was the third
consecutive month that Fiat's sales have collapsed in
Germany, although this month's steep decline was still
much softer than the previous two periods: in May they
dropped 66.5 percent and in April they were down 72.9
percent. Fiat’s market share last month came in at 3.5
percent. Other big rivals to lose share on the shrinking
German market last month included Toyota/Lexus (-58.4
percent), Renault/Dacia (-52.0 percent), SEAT (-49.5
percent), Ford (-45.9 percent), Citroen (-44.1 percent),
Skoda (-41.4 percent) and VW (-34.1 percent).
Alfa Romeo suffered
the biggest fall in year-on-year terms from the FGA
brand portfolio in Germany during May; it managed to
amass just 483 registrations last month, hit by the
overall market’s decline, which buffeted the MiTo, and
rapidly dwindling demand for its D-segment 159 sedan and
Sportswagon models. It claimed a 0.2 percent share of
the market for May. Lancia meanwhile managed to sell
just 233 cars in Germany last month which added up to a
year-on-year fall of 61.6 percent.
After the first five
months of the year the German market has finally broken
through the one million sales barrier and now stands on
1,179,532 registrations, down more than a quarter on
last year (-27.7 percent). The Fiat brand has 34,880
sales for the year-to-date, down 59.0 percent to give it
a market share of 3.0 percent. Alfa Romeo is on 2,681
sales of its sports orientated model range, down by
almost a half (-48.1 percent) on the same period last
year, to take a 0.2 percent market share. Lancia is on
656 units for the year-to-date, it is FGA’s worst
year-on-year performer (-67.1 percent) on this market in
contrast to its domestic market where it has been the
best performer of the three FGA brands. In a tumultuous
German market only three brands are in positive
territory year-on-year, Nissan/Infiniti, and the two
niche JLR units, Jaguar and Land Rover.
Ironically Chrysler
Group was into positive territory in Germany last month,
albeit with just 699 sales combined across its three
brands – Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, and that added up to
a rise in registrations of a quarter (+24.8 percent).
However, with its sales having comprehensively collapsed
across European markets over the last year, the U.S.
carmaker which is 20 percent owned by Fiat, really has
little place left to go but upwards. For the
year-to-date the Chrysler Group has 2,776 registrations
in Germany, a fall of exactly one quarter on the same
period last year. That gives it a 0.2 percent share of
the market for the year-to-date. Chrysler Group’s German
performance last month compliments its sales in the U.S.
and Canada last month which showed a dramatic rise in
volumes during May.
