There
was no respite in the UK for Fiat Group Automobiles'
Europe-wide sales slowdown this year as both the Fiat
and Alfa Romeo brands lost more than a fifth of their
sales last month meaning their declines were more than
double the overall market's slowdown, according to data
released by SMMT. Fiat Automobiles in particular
has been one of the biggest losers from the ending of
state-supported 'scrappage' incentive schemes across
Europe as its mostly small car mix of products have
since found it very difficult to stand their own ground.
Total registrations
in the UK fell 8.88 percent in September to 335,246
units against a scrappage-fuelled 2009. The overall
market however remains well up, by 7.8 percent, for the
year-to-date, at 1,635,659 units. September was 16.3
percent ahead of last year if the 'scrappage' scheme is
excluded, and was also on a par with 2008. For the full
year, the UK market is expected to steady hold at two
around million units, according to SMMT, putting
it up marginally on 2009. Fleet, diesel and
alternatively fuelled cars all posted growth in
September.
The
Fiat brand, which is suffering from the decline in
consumer demand for small cars, saw a total of 9,366
registrations last month in the UK and that mean the
Turinese car maker was down 20.03 percent on the same
month last year (11,712 units in September 2009) and
thus its overall UK market share shrank from 3.18 to
2.79 percent year-on-year. The year-on-year fall at Alfa
Romeo in September was also very similar to Fiat's, the
'sports' brand lost 20.58 percent after selling 1,571
cars last month compared to 1,978 a year ago, and demand
for the new C-segment Giulietta hatchback couldn't
compensate for a decline in interest in the brand's
other models. Its market share shrank from 0.54 to 0.47
percent year-on-year. Abarth however was a bright spot
for FGA, the Scorpion's 244 units last month, compared
to 212 during the same period a year ago, added up to a
year-on-year rise of 15.09 percent allowing it to
comfortably outperform the overall market's fall of 8.88
percent.
The
September market for the new ‘60’ plate cars was
actually 1 percent better than SMMT had predicted
in July, but still was the second lowest volume for the
month since 1999 when twice yearly registrations were
established. The market over the past 12 months has
risen 14.0 percent, or over 250,000 units, to 2.11
million new cars. However, over the past three months,
demand has fallen 11.0 percent, or over 65,000 units,
reflecting the end of scrappage.
For
the year-to-date Fiat Automobiles has seen 43,858 units
registered in the UK and that is more than
one-and-a-half thousand units ahead of the same nine
month period last year (42,294 units Jan-Sep 2009) which
means the brand is still positive for the year-to-date
(+3.70 percent) although that result is less than half
the the overall market's performance. Fiat's UK market
share thus slips from 2.79 to 2.68 percent year-on-year.
Alfa Romeo is on 6,106 units for the year-to-date, down
more than a thousand units on the same period last year
(7,135 units Jan-Sep 2009), and that adds up to a 14.42
percent year-on-year fall for the year-to-date while its
market share correspondingly contracts from 0.47 to 0.37
percent year-on-year. Abarth's rosy September, albeit on
tiny volumes, adds to a positive picture for the
Scorpion brand for the year-to-date, and it has amassed
a total of 1,154 registrations for the first three
quarters of the year compared to 973 units during the
same period last year; that in turn adds up to a
year-on-year rise in sales of 18.60 percent for the
year-to-date and an increase in its UK market share from
0.06 to 0.07 percent.
The
Chrysler Group, now 20 percent owned by Fiat Group,
continued to see its sales shrivel away in the UK,
although its presence on this market is at the moment
just nominal. The Chrysler brand, which Fiat Group
ambitiously hopes to retain as a full-liner in the UK in
the future, saw its sales slump to just 289 units last
month from 681 during the same period last year, a
year-on-year fall of 57.56 percent. Dodge, which now has
only a token presentation through just the Journey
minivan in the UK, managed 211 sales last month compared
to 773 a year ago, a fall of 72.70 percent year-on-year.
The 'off road' Jeep brand also saw UK consumers shun its
products last month, although it did outsell its two
sister brands, and 383 units in September compared to
560 during the same month last year added up to a fall
of just under a third (-31.61 percent). Combined
together the Chrysler Group took a quarter of a percent
of all UK sales for the month just gone. For the
year-to-date in the UK the Chrysler Group's position is
just as bad versus a positive market: the Chrysler brand
has 2,184 units year-to-date and is down 43.24 percent
year-on-year, Dodge is on 737 units, down 65.09 percent,
while Jeep's 1,614 units after the first three quarters
of the year means it has lost 11.56 percent compared to
the first nine months of last year.
“Despite an 8.9 percent fall in September registrations,
demand for new cars has stabilised and will end 2010
slightly up on last year," comented Paul Everitt,
SMMT chief executive. “It is important that
alongside government’s austerity measures, the
comprehensive spending review signals a strong growth
agenda to boost consumer and business confidence.”
