Fiat Automobiles enjoyed
a very strong May's sales in the UK, in direct contrast
to several other leading European markets such as
Germany and Italy, The Italian brand saw its sales surge
by nearly 30 percent year-on-year which was considerably
stronger than the overall market's 13.52 percent gain.
Alfa Romeo however couldn't contribute to the positive
picture painted by Fiat and its sales slid by a fifth
year-on-year.
Registrations across the
UK in May added up to 153,095 units and it means that
volumes over the first five months of the year have now
risen by 22.0 percent, according to industry body
SMMT. The growth however reflects the weakness of
the 2009 market, with May volumes still 14.6 percent or
26,177 units down on the 2008 level. The final few "scrappage"
registrations continue to feed the market, following the
scheme’s closure to new orders in March. The
Scrappage Incentive Scheme started on 18 May 2009
and since then has averaged 17 percent of monthly new
car registrations. Almost all orders have now been
delivered with only 2.7 percent of the May market coming
through the scheme.
The
Fiat brand collected 4,093 registrations of its cars
last month in the UK which was up nine hundred units on
the same month last year (3,188 units during May 2009)
and that added up to a strong year-on-year rise of 28.39
percent. It also meant that Fiat raised its UK market
share for the month from 2.36 to 2.67 percent. Other big
year-on-year volume winners aside from Fiat last month
in the UK included Volvo (+49.50 percent), Nissan
(+47.61 percent), Skoda (+42.96 percent) and Hyundai
(+37.77 percent).
Fiat Group Automobiles' (FGA) UK niche brands, Alfa
Romeo and Abarth, couldn't replicate the success of Fiat
Automobiles or even edge into positive territory in a
climbing overall market. Alfa Romeo notched up 549
registrations last month, compared to 683 during the
same period a year ago, and that equated to a
year-on-year sales decline of a fifth (-19.62 percent)
and a shrink in its market share for the month of May
from 0.51 to 0.36 percent year-on-year. A good recent
run for Abarth was grounded in May too, 96 registrations
compared to 111 a year ago, added up to a slump of 17.12
percent.
After the first five months of the year the Fiat brand
has seen 24,546 registrations in the UK, up more than
7,000 units on the same period last year (17,197 units
January-May 2010) and that adds up to a pleasing
year-on-year rise of 42.73 percent. It also means that
Fiat increases its share of the UK market from 2.30 to
2.69 percent year-on-year.
Alfa Romeo is very narrowly in positive territory for
the year-to-date in the UK with 3,095 registrations, and
it is up just over a hundred units on the same five
month period of last year (2,977 units January-May 2009)
and that adds up to a 3.96 percent year-on-year rise for
the year-to-date. However that underperforms the overall
market and it means that Alfa Romeo's UK market share
for the year-to-date drops from 0.40 to 0.34 percent
year-on-year. Abarth, the niche division reserved for
sportier Fiat models, has seen 615 registrations for the
year so far, and compared to 519 in the same period last
year and that adds up to a year-on-year rise of 18.50
percent.
“May was another good month for the UK
new car market, although we expect the coming months to
be extremely challenging,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief
executive. “It is essential that the upcoming emergency
budget promotes consumer and business confidence to
maintain economic recovery.” Meanwhile
alternatively fuelled vehicle
registrations rose 195.3 percent to take a 1.1 percent
market share in May and diesel demand rose 21.0
percent reaching 46.9 percent, almost matching its best
ever share. Ford’s Fiesta was knocked off the best
selling model list for the first time this year, by the
Ford Focus. Growth in mini and supermini cars cooled in
May, reflective of the rate of gain in previous months.
Other segments posted recovery on weak 2009 levels.
