A total of 195,226 passenger cars were sold in the UK last month according to industry body SMMT. For the first half of the year registrations are up by 19.9 percentup by over 180,000 to 1.1 million units. Volumes in the latest quarter were up 11.8 percent. June 2010 recorded the twelfth successive monthly increase, despite just 0.7 percent of registrations coming from the scrappage scheme, compared with 19.2 percent during the same period last year.  This June was 16 percent above the level forecast by SMMT in April, but was 8.5 percent off the 1999-2009 average.

However June's sales figures came partly through the unprofitable fleet market which rebounded in June, up 25.3 percent on the volume recorded a year earlier, whilst business volumes rose by 18.4 percent. Private demand was almost unchanged, down 3.3 percent. Over the first half of the year private demand has shown the largest rise, up 24.6 percent, boosted by the scrappage scheme. The scheme closed to new orders in March.

Fiat Automobiles recorded 5,326 sales in the UK last month which was a little under 200 units up on the same month last year (5,143 units in June 2009) and that equated to a year-on-year rise of 3.96 percent. However Fiat's increase was less than half the overall market's climb for the month and as a result its share of all sales contracted from 2.92 to 2.73 percent.

The imminent arrival of the new C-segment Giulietta in the showrooms cannot come soon enough for Alfa Romeo UK as the 'sports' brand only sold 741 cars in the UK last month, down 200 units on the same month last year (935 units in June 2009) and that added up to a slump of more than a fifth (-20.75 percent) and meant its share of the total market for the month dropped to 0.38 percent from 0.53 percent a year ago. At the Abarth brand however it was a brighter story: the Scorpion sold 93 cars last June and a further 120 last month which added up to a year-on-year rise of 29.03 percent.

Chrysler Group, 20 percent owned by Fiat Group, continued its usual dismal sales showing in the UK through June, all its brands slumped by more than a half although its sales data is merely at a nominal level now. The Chrysler brand, which the carmaker hopes to retain in the UK, managed just 91 sales compared to 204 last year and that added up to a decline of more than a half (-55.39 percent). Dodge, which now lists only one model for sale on its UK website notched up 55 sales in June compared to 179 a year ago, and that meant it was down by two-thirds (-69.27 percent) year-on-year while Jeep saw a similar failure to attract buyers, it managed to sell 92 units in June compared to 276 a year ago which added up to a fall of 66.67 percent year-on-year.

After the first half of the year Fiat Automobiles has a total of 29,872 registrations in the UK and compared to 22,340 during the same period last year it is up a very healthy 33.72 percent which comfortably outperforms the overall market which is up 19.86 percent for the year-to-date. As a result the Fiat brand's share of all sales in the UK for the year-to-date is up from 2.42 to 2.69 percent year-on-year. Alfa Romeo has 3,836 registrations for the first half of the year compared to 3,912 for the same period last year and that means its sales are virtually flat year-on-year (-1.94 percent). However with the overall market up Alfa Romeo's overall market share contracts from 0.42 to 0.35 percent year-on-year. Abarth continues to steadily grow since its UK relaunch and has 735 sales so far this year compared to 612 for the same six month period of last year and that means the Scorpion brand's sales are up 20.10 percent year-on-year. The picture changes very little at Chrysler Group for the year-to-date with the Chrysler brand on 799 registrations (-24.62 percent), Dodge on 450 (-52.98) and Jeep on 1,128 (+1.54 percent).