06.11.2003 FIAT BUCK A DECLINING ITALIAN MARKET TO GRAB A 29.6% SHARE OF OCTOBER'S SALES

Fiat bucked the trend of a shrinking of their domestic car market last month, the Italian carmaker extending its share to 29.6%, well up from the near historic low of September. With the market contracting overall by 0.3% it was a strong boost for the struggling company, and pleased analysts who had generally not been expecting increased sales to properly kick in until November's figures were reported.

The rise was helped by an immediate sales impact from the new Fiat Panda, launched in September, which moved straight to second best selling model, behind the well established market leading Punto. The increase was helped by a 16.5% jump from Alfa Romeo, a welcome relief for the sports car brand which has seen sales contract this year. The rise mainly due to a strong uptake of the facelifted 156 saloon and Sportwagon range.

Fiat were buoyed by the figures, and with a raft of new models entering the showrooms, including the Fiat Idea mini-MPV launched last week, they believe a 30% year share is an achievable target. Orders for the new Panda are already hitting a year end target, while the new Lancia Ypsilon is struggling to meet demand which has seen 35,000 ordered so far. Target for the Ypsilon is 40,000 sales this year.