The Fiat Group ended the
year with a dismal December sales were down 19.1 percent
year-on-year which meant that the Italian carmaker
finished 2010 with 1,041,287 sales, down more than two
hundred thousand units on the previous year. That left
Fiat with the wooden spoon amongst the nine key
carmaking groups selling vehicles in Europe. According
to ACEA a total of 1,048,379 new cars were sold
in Europe (counting the EU27 plus the EFTA signatories)
during December,
a year-on-year fall of -2.7 percent.
For the Fiat Group
December brought no respite to an appalling year: 69,791
registrations was down over sixteen thousand units on
the final month of the pervious year (December 2009:
86,228 units), a slump of 19.7 percent year-on-year.
Consequently the Italian carmaker's overall European
market share for the last month of the year slid from
8.0 to 6.7 percent year-on-year.
The Fiat brand
suffered a huge slump once more in December, 53,660
units was down almost a quarter (-23.6 percent)
year-on-year and its market share dropped from 6.5
percent (Dec 2009) to just 5.1 percent (Dec 2010).
Lancia was the biggest year-on-year loser from Fiat
Group Automobiles (FGA) portfolio for December, down
27.4 percent after totting up sales of 6,478 units for
the month. Its market share slipped by 0.2 points to 0.6
percent. FGA's spread of red ink was rescued by Alfa
Romeo, which thanks to the new Giulietta, was up 39.4
percent year-on-year during December: 9,350 units
registered across Europe in December raising its market
share from 0.3 percent to 0.9 percent. The Fiat Group's
two niche luxury/performance brands, Ferrari and
Maserati, sold a combined 303 units during the closing
month of 2010, down 10.4 percent year-on-year.
For the full year of
2010 a total of 13,785,698 new cars have been sold in
Europe, down almost 5 percent on 2009's total (-4.9
percent). The Fiat Group was - as is now the case - the
biggest loser amongst the main carmaking groups in
Europe, it was down over three times (-17.0 percent) the
overall market's fall and it shed over two hundred
thousand units (1,041,287 for the full year 2010 vs
1,255,310 for 2009). Of the big nine groups in Europe
Toyota was the next biggest loser (-16.3 percent) then
Ford (-13.3 percent).
The Fiat brand ended
the year of 2010 with 825,376 registrations, down 18.8
percent compared to 1,016,812 units during the full year
of 2009. That saw the Fiat brand's market share drop by
a full point from 7.0 percent (2009) to 6.0 percent
(2010) year-on-year. Alfa Romeo ended the year with
110,128 units which left it almost flat (-0.4 percent)
and its market share unchanged on 0.8 percent. However
it missed its full year targets for the year - once
again - as although the new Giulietta reached its
targets, a slip in demand for all its other models
hampered progress. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's much
touted target of 300,000 units for Alfa Romeo by 2010
for the brand seems a distant dreamy memory. Lancia
didn't quite reach the one hundred thousand unit mark
for the year (another brand to be once given a 300,000
units target by 2010), just shy on 99,376 units, and
compared to 121,551 units shifted during 2009, that
added up to an 18.2 percent year-on-year fall which
meant that Lancia's European market share declined from
0.8 percent (2009) to 0.7 percent (2010). Ferrari and
Maserati meanwhile sold a combined total of 6,407 units,
just 7 units less than 2010 which left the niche pair
flat year-on-year.
Meanwhile the Chrysler
Group continues to find room to fall even further in
Europe. During December the U.S. carmaker, now 25
percent owned by Fiat Group, lost 23.1 percent
year-on-year to a total of 2,739 units combined across
its three brands; that left it steady on a 0.3 percent
European market share. For the full year the Chrysler
Group ended up with 36,874 units and compared to 50,374
for the full year of 2009 that was a market share fall
of more than a quarter year-on-year (-26.8 percent) and
a market share unchanged on 0.3 percent.
