Any lingering sales
momentum in the UK for Fiat was wiped out during August
as registrations crashed by two thirds year-on-year
which was almost four times the fall of the overall
market which was in negative territory once again,
according to data released by SMMT. The picture
was almost as bleak at Fiat Group Automobiles' (FGA)
Alfa Romeo division which saw its own sales almost cut
in half compared to the same month last year.
The UK market saw total
registrations fall 17.5 percent in August to 55,305
units, compared with scrappage-fuelled 2009, and the
decline marks second consecutive monthly fall, a pattern
expected by SMMT to continue through to year end.
August will be the lowest volume month of 2010 for the
UK, and typically only accounts for 3.3 percent of
annual sales ahead of the plate change this month. In
comparison last August over 16,000 cars or 25 percent of
the market were registered through the scrappage scheme.
That same month a year ago saw A-segment sales trebling
and Fiat was able to handsomely cash in on the demand.
The new numbers make bad
reading for the Fiat Automobiles brand: in August it
barely scraped into five-figures (1,044 units) and, when
compared to 3,086 units sold during the same month a
year ago, that added up to a year-on-year crash of 65.50
percent. It all meant that Fiat's share of the overall
market last month slipped down to just 1.89 percent,
considerably less than half the 4.52 percent slice it
achieved during August 2009. Fiat was also the
worst-performing mass-brand on the UK market last month,
only Hyundai (-59.78 percent) and Toyota (-44.2 percent)
came close, while the big year-on-year volume winners in
August were Renault (+58.32 percent) and Mercedes-Benz
(+22.47 percent).
Over the year-to-date the supermini and lower medium segment markets have
contributed the largest volume to the market’s growth, but they, along with the
mini segment, recorded a sharp decline in August volumes, which hurt Fiat's
sales momentum. MPV, dual-purpose
(SUV), executive and luxury saloon segments, all areas where FGA is weak, sustained their strong growth
momentum.
Alfa Romeo collected 184 registrations during
August compared to 344 during the same month a year ago which added up to a
year-on-year fall of 46.51 percent and its market share for the month slipped
from 0.51 to 0.33 percent year-on-year. The 'sports' brand should however be
boosted in the coming months by the arrival of the new five-door Giulietta
hatchback in the strategic C-segment, particularly as this month sees a
registration plate change. FGA's niche Abarth brand also saw its very positive
sales run since its recent relaunch in the UK come to an end during August: 51
units last month compared to 59 units during August 2009 meant it fell 13.56
percent year-on-year, despite a recent increase in its sports-orientated range
from two to three models, with the launch of the Abarth 500C, and also the
arrival in the UK showrooms at the same time of the restyled Abarth Punto EVO.
Abarth's UK market share for August stood at 0.09 percent.
After the first eight
months of the year a total of
1,300,413 cars have been sold in the UK and that is 13.2
percent up against last year's total of 1,149,110 units
at this point. The SMMT's
full
year forecast for the UK suggests 2010 registrations
will finish at 2 million units, up 1.2 percent on 2009.
“New car
registrations were down 17.5 percent in August and
conditions will remain challenging through the rest of
the year," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief
executive. “The industry enjoyed a better than expected
first half of the year and, despite the difficulties,
SMMT is forecasting that new car registrations will
close just ahead of 2009 figures.”
For the year-to-date the picture is still positive for Fiat
Automobiles thanks to a strong early part of the year: it has 34,492
registrations after eight months which is four thousand units up on the same
period last year (30,582 units) and equates to a 12.79 percent year-on-year increase
in sales. The Fiat brand's market share is also almost unchanged year-on-year: 2.65
percent for the year-to-date compared to 2.66 for the same period of 2009.
Alfa Romeo, which should soon see a
positive impact from the launch in the UK of the new
Giulietta, is negative for the year-to-date: 4,535 after
eight months is five hundred units down on the same
period last year (5,157 units) adding up to a decline of
12.06 percent while its market share for the
year-to-date contracts from 0.45 to 0.35 percent
year-on-year. Abarth however joins the Fiat brand in
being positive year-on-year: 910 units for the
year-to-date compared to 761 units for the opening eight
months of last year adds up to a year-on-year increase
of 19.58 percent and its market share remains unchanged
on 0.07 percent.
Chrysler Group, 20
percent owned by Fiat Group, has all but vanished from
the UK sales data and all three of its brands saw just
nominal registrations during August. The Chrysler brand,
which the U.S. carmaker hopes to keep on sale in the UK
in the future saw sales amount to just 28 units last
month and when compared to 132 units in August 2009 that
equated to a year-on-year fall of four fifths (78.79
percent). Dodge's 18 units last month's versus 105
during the same period last year left it down a similar
amount (-82.98 percent) while Jeep's 32 units in August
compared to 58 units a year ago meant it was down by
nearly a half (-44.83 percent). For the year-to-date the
Chrysler brand has 895 registrations and is down more
than a third year-on-year (-36.30 percent), Dodge's 526
units is almost two-thirds down on the same eight month
period last year (-60.69 percent) while Jeep's 1,231
sales leaves it relatively flat compared to the same
period last year (-2.69 percent).
