Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) endured another disappointing month in Italy during May as its sales slid 8.22% to 55,336 units and underperformed the overall market which was very slightly negative.
In total 199,113 new passenger cars were sold in Italy last month, a small decline of 2.78% on May 2017. FCA lost five thousand units across its portfolio and its share of the total market for the month just gone slid to 27.79%.
The Fiat brand dragged the performance down during as its sales collapsed by ten thousand units and 22.81% to 35,336 units with its market share coming in at just 17.75% as key models including Tipo, 500 and 500X were shunned by buyers.
However, after big volume losses all year long, the Lancia brand steadied the ship during May and was down just 4.29% to 5,068 units to take a 2.55% share of the market.
Alfa Romeo was up very slightly, by 176 units and 3.82% to finish May with 4,782 units sold. It was driven by steadily growing demand for the Stelvio as well as an unusual surge for the Giulietta – both of which countered fading sales for the Giulia.
Amongst the niche luxury brands, Maserati was down 17.91% to 220 units while Ferrari was up 15.38% to 45 units. Finally for FCA, Jeep rose 129.62% to 9,885 units.
For the year-to-date FCA has 260,839 sales on its home market, down twenty thousand units and 7.16% on the same period last year to take a 27.58% share of the overall market which is almost flat (-0.34%).
The Fiat brand has 172,325 sales so far this year in Italy and is down 16.55% and twenty four thousand units. Alfa Romeo is up 15.17% to 23,620 units while Lancia is down 28.61% to 23,159 units. Finally, Maserati is down 13.29% to 1,240 units, Ferrari is up 3.53% to 176 units and Jeep is up 102.62% to 40,319 units.
Fiat’s Panda was the best-selling car in Italy last month as usual with 13,860 finding buyers, more than double the volumes of the second-best seller and after a big recent downturn in demand it pleasingly only dropped a thousand units on last year during May. Meanwhile for the year-to-date it’s the same story at the top of the sales charts as the Panda has seen 57,837 registrations although it’s now lost seventeen thousand units year-on-year.
Jeep’s Renegade (5,101 units) jumped to be the third best-selling car in Italy for May as well as coming out as top dog in C-segment. The Jeep Compass (4,493 units) was the seventh selling model last month and for the year-to-date the two off road models are on 20,420 and 18,655 units respectively.
Lancia’s only remaining model, the Ypsilon, came in on 5,068 units for May and it was the second in B-segment.
The Fiat 500L (4,761 units) was the fifth best seller to give the brand three of the top five most demanded cars in Italy for May as well as being the third highest seller in B-segment, while it’s on 21,125 units for the year-to-date to take ninth place in the best sellers list.
The Fiat Tipo (4,411 units) was the eighth best seller in May as it lost over three thousand sales year-on-year and faded sharply away from its recent perch near the sales summit and for the year-to-date it’s on 24,480 units and is the third best seller, down five thousand units on the same period last year but still holding onto second place in C-segment.
The Fiat 500X was another to drop sharply away and it was only the ninth best seller in May with 4,358 units connecting with buyers while it slips to fifth place in C-segment. The 500X is on 25,682 units for the year-to-date which puts it second only to the Panda.
The Fiat 500 (4,031) slipped out of the overall top ten in May as it lost three thousand sales year-on-year to wind up only eleventh but still held onto second place in A-segment and for the year-to-date it’s on 24,081 sales, down four thousand units on the same period last year.
With 2,314 units sold the Giulietta continues to be Alfa Romeo’s volume seller and it was the twenty sixth best-selling car in Italy last month, one place behind another ageing model, Fiat’s Punto, which added 2,416 units. The Giulietta put on a useful spurt for the month just gone, up more than six hundred units on May 2017 as it squeezed into the C-segment top ten in the final spot.
Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio was next up for the ‘sports’ brand with 1,327 sales to take third place in D-segment. Its year-on-year sales data isn’t comparable yet but for the record it sold 935 units in May 2017.
For the year-to-date the Giulietta leads out Alfa Romeo’s volumes with 9,739 units sold, down seven hundred units on the same period last year, while the Stelvio is now on 6,556 units. The Giulia couldn’t make the D-segment top ten last month but for the year-to-date it’s on 3,722 units and is now really struggling to connect with Italian buyers, that’s seven hundred units down on the same period last year.
Maserati’s sales were led out last month by the Levante with 112 units finding buyers in May, and while it was sharply down the Ghibli, however, with 87 units registered, saw its sales go the other way. For the year-to-date the Levante is on 698 sales, a big fall on the same period last year while the Ghibli is on 439 units and its sales are up.
Ferrari’s best-selling last month was the 488 with 33 sold, the sportscar’s sales nearly doubling while for the year-to-date it’s also up, this time on 114 units.
