In November the Fiat Group missed the party once again as its sales lost 11.7 percent year-on-year, that equated to 67,640 sales last month versus 76,612 during November 2010 and left it as the second worst performer amongst the big nine carmaking groups in Europe, only PSA Peugeot-Citroën fared worse, down 13.2 percent year-on-year. The biggest carmaker, VW Group, had no problems last month, up 5.8 percent driven by a 13.1 percent rise for the VW brand. Behind second-placed PSA, Renault was almost flat (-1.0 percent), before the two American carmakers, GM and Ford, both suffered, they lost 10.8 and 5.5 percent respectively. Then came Fiat, before BMW (+1.1 percent), Daimler (-6.8 percent) and Toyota (+4.2 percent) wrapped up the key nine groups. Fiat Group's dismal performance saw its European market share slide from 6.9 to 6.3 percent year-on-year for November.

The Fiat brand continues to drag the Italian group down and 47,968 units in November was almost ten thousand down on the same period last year, a decline of 16.3 percent. As a result the Fiat brand's European market share slips from 5.2 percent in November 2010 to just 4.5 percent last month. Thanks to the arrival of the new Ypsilon, Lancia sold 8,894 cars last month, up one and a half thousand units and 21.8 percent on the same month last year (Lancia's European total also includes 234 cars sold under the Chrysler name in the UK last month as well as a further handful in Ireland). Despite being an almost exclusively Italian-only brand Lancia also outsold Alfa Romeo in Europe last month, the sports brand's 8,348 cars was down more than one thousand five hundred units on the same period last year and equated to a 16.7 percent fall which left Alfa Romeo firmly holding the Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) wooden spoon. Lancia and Alfa Romeo both claimed a 0.8 percent share of the European market last month, up and down 0.1 percent year-on-year respectively. Jeep sold 2,055 cars last month, up 84.5 percent year-on-year to be FGA's best performer of the month; it was driven by the latest Grand Cherokee which saw its volumes up 147.1 percent year-on-year for November. Elsewhere the Fiat Group's two luxury/performance brands, Ferrari and Maserati, had a November to forget, a combined 375 units was down a massive 56.1 percent year-on-year.

For the year-to-date, 12,577,164 new cars have been sold in Europe, down 1.2 percent on the same 11 month period last year. Fiat Group has 886,178 sales from January to November, and when compared to 1,004,518 sales during the same period of 2010, that is a fall of 11.8 percent. That leaves Fiat as the worst performer amongst the big nine groups in 2011 and the only one to suffer a double-digit fall. As a result Fiat Group's market share for the year-to-date slides from 7.9 to 7.0 percent year-on-year.

The Fiat brand has suffered this year as cutting investment in its products really bites home, coupled to management's continuing lack of interest in pursuing a focus away from a traditional overreliance on Italy which is now adding to the problems. Fiat's 638,550 units for the year-to-date is down more than one hundred and forty thousand units and 17.1 percent on the same period last year and its market share has slumped from 6.1 to 5.1 percent for the year-to-date in year-on-year terms. There are few positives for the Fiat brand to cling to, but in A-segment the outgoing Panda continues to lead the way with a 15.8 percent share of the market for the first 11 months. The 500 follows closely behind, achieving a 13.2 percent share for the year-to-date. Fiat's most important model, the Punto, however is really struggling, it has only managed to grab a 6.4 percent share of its segment for the first 11 months of 2011. The Qubo and Doblò remain among the best selling vehicles in the 'Multispace' segment with a combined 15.9 percent share of the market year-to-date.

Thanks to the upwards effect of its new Giulietta during the first half of the year, Alfa Romeo is on a solid 122,401 units for the year-to-date, up twenty two thousand units and 21.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Lancia is down just over six thousand units and 6.6 percent to 95,774 units for the year-to-date while Jeep is on 21,675 units and is up 63.6 percent led out by the Grand Cherokee which is up 53.5 percent for the period. In terms of year-to-date market share, Alfa Romeo is up 0.8 percent to 1.0 percent while Lancia is flat on 0.8 percent. Jeep is on 21,675 units for the year-to-date, FGA's best performer in these terms, as it is up 63.6 percent on the same 11 month period last year. Ferrari and Maserati are having a year to forget across Europe in 2011, they have sold a combined 7,778 units for the year-to-date, down by ten thousand units and 55.8 percent year-on-year for the period.