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Alfa Romeo UK, which is now reliant on the
Giulietta (top) and MiTo (bottom) for its
volumes, went sharply upwards during May as
1,039 units sold last month compared
favourably to 549 units a year ago and was a
hike of 89.25 percent year-on-year. |
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Fiat Automobiles UK
market slide showed no signs of slowing during May as it
lost a quarter of its sales against a flat market; Alfa
Romeo however made ground after its sales nearly
doubled. According to data released this week by UK
automotive industry body SMMT a total of 150,431
new cars were registered in the last month and, when
compared to 153,095 units during the same period last
year, the market was virtually unchanged (-1.74
percent).
In total the Fiat brand sold 3,104 new cars in the UK
last month and compared with May 2011 when it shifted
4,093 units that was a steep fall of 24.16 percent.
Consequently Fiat's UK market share for the month just
gone slid from 2.67 to 2.06 percent. Last May the Fiat
brand easily outperformed the UK market to climb by
nearly a third versus the same month in 2009.
Alfa Romeo went upwards in May as 1,039 units sold last
month compared to 549 units a year ago was a hike of
89.25 percent year-on-year. (Last May Alfa Romeo had
seen sales decline in the UK). It also meant that Alfa
Romeo was the best performing brand in the UK in
year-on-year terms for May, ahead of Saab (+88.50
percent) and Mitsubishi (+81.60 percent). Alfa Romeo's
UK market share for May correspondingly rose from 0.36
to 0.69 percent year-on-year.
The Chrysler Group, now majority owned by Fiat, had a
mixed month, although it's current UK market presence
can only be described as being token: the Chrysler
brand, which Fiat believes can still have a positive
future in the UK, sold 27 cars, down 79.67 percent
year-on-year, although it is still waiting for an array
of refreshed models. Jeep rose however and 200 units was
up 80.18 percent year-on-year. The American off-road
brand - which can count on the refreshed Compass and
Patriot, as well as the Model Year Wrangler, in the
showrooms now - was the fourth best performer in
year-on-year terms during May in the UK behind Alfa
Romeo, Saab and Mitsubishi, albeit on the back of
nominal volumes. Meanwhile, Maserati shifted 31 cars in
the UK last month, down 29.55 percent year-on-year, and
Abarth added 81 cars, down 11.96 percent year-on-year
which added up to a 0.05 percent slice of the May pie.
After the first five months of the year a total of
846,513 new cars have been registered in the UK, down
7.33 percent on the same period last year. With 18,385
registrations for the year-to-date compared to 24,546
units during the January to May period last year the
Fiat brand is down exactly a quarter (-25.10 percent)
and its market share for the period correspondingly
drops from 2.69 to 2.17 percent. Beside Fiat, the other
big losers in the UK during May included Honda, Jaguar,
Proton, Renault and Suzuki.
The picture at Alfa Romeo is much more rosy and 5,500
sales so far this year compared to 3,695 units during
the same five months of 2010 equates to a year-on-year
rise of 77.21 percent. That also means that Alfa Romeo
is the second best performing brand in the UK for the
year so far versus the same period in 2010, behind only
Saab which is up 78.93 percent.
Amongst the Fiat Group's niche brands Maserati has 172
sales for the year-to-date, down 7.03 percent
year-on-year, while Abarth is on 590 units, down 4.07
percent, meaning however that its share of the market
for the period remains steady on 0.07 percent, unchanged
on the first five months of last year.
The Chrysler Group's two remaining UK market brands have
both lost ground for the year-to-date period: Chrysler
has 254 registrations and is down two-thirds
year-on-year (-64.12 percent) while Jeep has had a much
softer landing: 809 units is down one-fifth (-21.91
percent). Chrysler is still saddled with pre facelift
cars and awaits the raft of improved models while Jeep
is counting down to the arrival of the new Grand
Cherokee SUV.
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