The Fiat
brand enjoyed a welcome uptick in the UK last month as
its sales climbed by a quarter year-on-year, however
Alfa Romeo saw its sales fall off a cliff as they
dropped by a half. Of the Fiat Group's trio of niche
brands in the UK, Jeep, Abarth and Maserati all lost
ground in April.
In total 142,322 new cars were sold in the UK during
April which was up slightly, by 3.32 percent, on the
same month last year, continuing the overall market's
trend so far this year. The Fiat brand added 3,675 sales
last month, and when compared to 2,941 during the same
period last year that was a sharp rise of just over
seven hundred units and 24.96 percent. As a result Fiat
raised its UK market share from 2.14 percent in April
2011 to 2.58 percent last month. The Fiat 500 also
returned to the top 10 best sellers list since it was
part of a major driving school renewal programme.
Alfa Romeo endured a
dismal April though, sales fell 51.49 percent to 637
units (1,313 units in April 2011) and as a result its UK
market share slipped from 0.95 percent in April 2011 to
0.45 percent for the month just gone. That made Alfa
Romeo the fourth biggest loser in year-on-year terms
after the now defunct Saab (-95.30 percent) and
struggling Renault (-56.00 percent) while the fifth
biggest faller was Fiat Group Automobile's (FGA) Abarth
brand, it was down 48 units and 44.44 percent to finish
April with 60 sales. That halved the Scorpion's April
market share year-on-year to 0.04 percent.
Elsewhere, Maserati
sold 26 cars during April, down 18.75 percent, while
FGA's two Chrysler Group acquisitions posted mixed
performances: Jeep was down 14.67 percent to 128 units
while Chrysler was in fact the market's biggest
year-on-year winner (up 1,105.56 percent) albeit to a
total of 217 units. During April Jeep claimed a 0.09
percent share of the market while Chrysler was on 0.15
percent.
After the first four
months of the year, 705,878 cars have been sold in the
UK, up just a shade under ten thousand units and 1.41
percent on the same period last year. The Fiat brand is
on 16,734 sales for the year-to-date and when compared
to 15,281 units during the opening third of last year,
it is up 9.51 percent.
Alfa Romeo has 2,946
sales for the year-to-date which a fall of one third
(-33.96 percent) when compared to January to April last
year, when it shifted 4,461 cars. That leaves it amongst
the market's worst performers for April in year-on-year
terms, behind only Lotus, Mitsubishi, Proton and Saab.
Abarth meanwhile has 422 sales for the year-to-date,
down 87 units and 17.09 percent on the same period last
year - the Scorpion's share of UK sales so far this year
rests on 0.06 percent.
Maserati has 125 sales
for the year-to-date, down 16 units and 11.35 percent on
the opening four months of last year. Jeep has 810 sales
for the year-to-date and is up exactly on-third, while
Chrysler has 999 sales and is up 360.37 percent.
