italiaspeed.com

Alfa Romeo, boosted by demand for the new C-segment Giulietta, provided a the only bright note for Fiat Group Automobiles UK (FGA) during a dismal October as sales of the sports brand climbed by more than a fifth year-on-year.

Fiat Automobiles' sales collapse across Europe continued into the UK last month and following huge falls in Italy (-40 percent) and Germany (-48 percent) during October the UK picture was equally bleak, down 46 percent. The were few straws to cling to as the Fiat brand's fall was more than double the market's overall decline of 22.17 percent. As in those other two markets Fiat Automobiles had the ignominious distinction of being on of the worst performing volume brand in the for the month of October, only Hyundai (-57.2 percent) and Kia (-51.09 percent) were in a gloomier position.

Alfa Romeo, boosted by demand for the new C-segment Giulietta, however provided a brighter note for Fiat Group Automobiles UK (FGA) during October as its sales climbed by more than a fifth year-on-year although Abarth went the other way and the niche sports Fiat brand was down by more than a half in October.

In total 131,495 new passenger cars were sold in the UK last month and in the face of continuing weak demand that was thirty eight thousand units less than the same month last year. It meant that the UK new car market fell for a fourth successive month, with the October drop in fact the steepest decline since May 2009. The October market was 2.4 percent ahead of the low of 2008, and on par with the 2009 market if all 'scrappage' volumes were excluded. In October 2009 'scrappage' represented 21.9 percent of the market, with 37,000 units.

Fiat was one of the big volume losers last month in the UK and the Italian brand has been hit hard by the end of the 'scrappage' scheme which it benefited from last year. It has also suffered from it's reliance on small, efficient cars as post-recession consumers return to favour larger models. Also causing Fiat Automobiles is a lack of preparation for Euro 5 regulation which has forced a rationalisation of its model ranges while overpricing of the new 500 TwinAir follows on from too high pricing for the convertible 500C. A major fleet deal involving the 500 last year (and since terminated) also has to be factored in.

Fiat Automobiles sold 3,548 cars in the UK last month compared to 5,570 units during the same 31 day period last year and that added up to a slump of three thousand units putting it 46 percent down year-on-year. It's market share for the month correspondingly declined from 3.89 to 2.7 percent.

Alfa Romeo's 843 units in October in the UK was a hundred and fifty more than the same month last year (693) and that added up to a year-on-year rise of 21.65 percent. With the overall market heading south by a similar margin to Alfa Romeo's rise the sports brand's market share for the month thus rose from 0.41 to 0.64 percent. Abarth suffered a poor month however, it shifted only 75 cars compared to 158 during October 2009 and that added up to a halving of it's sales (-52.53 percent). That all means a year-on-year decline in the Scorpion brand's market share for the month of October from 0.09 to 0.06 percent.

For the year-to-date the UK market has seen a total of 1,767,154 registrations which puts it up slightly year-on-year (+4.81 percent). Fiat Automobiles, thanks to first quarter incentive fuelled demand, is virtually flat year-on-year for (-2.98 percent) and at 47,406 units registered in the first ten months it is down just over five hundred units on the same period last year (48,864 Jan-Oct 2009). Fiat's market share for the year-to-date declines only slightly from 2.90 to 2.68 percent year-on-year.

Alfa Romeo has 6,949 units registered in the UK so far this year and is down a little under one thousand units and 11.23 percent on the same ten month period last year (7,828 units Jan-Oct 2009). Alfa Romeo's UK market share for the year-to-date slips from 0.46 to 0.39 percent year-on-year. Abarth however is the best year-on-year performer for FGA, up 8.66 percent, although it's UK relaunch timing renders the comparison data almost meaningless. The Scorpion brand has 1,229 registrations for the year-to-date compared to 1,131 during the same ten month period last year. It's markets share thus remains unchanged on 0.07 percent.

October’s decline was in line with SMMT expectations for the month. The full year forecast was revised upwards to 2.026 million units last month, a modest 1.5% rise over 2009. “There was a significant fall in October’s new car registrations, reflecting the impact of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme (SIS) at this time last year and some deterioration in consumer confidence. Total new car registrations in 2010 are forecast to be 2.026 million units, 1.5% up on 2009," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. “The industry expects the coming months to be challenging with slow, but steady, economic growth feeding through to improved confidence and demand during 2011.”