For the month of November, the European auto market (EU27+EFTA) registered a 10.1% decline (7.2% year-to-date). Fiat Group closed the month with a 6.1% share, with total volumes continuing to reflect the negative market trend in Italy (-20.1%).
Fiat brand registered sales increases in Germany, the UK, Spain, Belgiumand Switzerland. Jeep recorded growth in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. The Fiat Panda was once again the best selling car in the A segment with November market share nearing 17%. Combined, the Panda and 500 had a 28% share of the European A segment.
The European passenger car market (EU27+EFTA) recorded another month of sales declines in November, with total registrations down 10.1% year-over-year to less than 966,000 units (over 1 million units for November 2011). Year-to-date, new vehicle sales totaled 11,690,000 units, representing a 7.2% decline over the period January-November 2011.
The 20.1% contraction in demand in Italy had a significant impact on results for Fiat Group, which registered European sales of just over 59,000 units for the month and market share of 6.1%. Year-to-date, Group sales totaled nearly 748,000 vehicles with share at 6.4%.
Results were positive in several individual markets, however, with volumes up 4.4% in the United Kingdom and share at 2.5%. In Sweden, sales jumped 76.9%, with share higher at 1.9%. In Germany, volumes were up 0.5% with share increasing to 2.6%.
Fiat brand sold nearly 44,500 vehicles for the month, improving share 0.1 percentage points to 4.6%. Year-to-date, share was 4.7% with sales totaling nearly 545,000 units. The brand’s performance was positive in Germany, where Fiat recorded a 6.4% increase in sales volumes (versus a 3.5% decrease for the market) and a 0.2 percentage point increase in share. Positive results also in the UK, where volumes were 24.6% higher over November 2011 (versus an 11.3% increase for the market) and share was up 0.2 percentage points to 2%. In Spain, where the market was down 20.3% over the prior year, Fiat outperformed significantly, increasing volumes by 3% and market share by 0.5 percentage points to 2.2%.
Despite a continued sharp contraction in demand in Fiat’s core city car segment, the Fiat Panda was once again number one in the European A segment with more than 15,600 units sold and share increasing year-over-year to 16.9%. Positive performance also for the 500, with sales totaling nearly 10,000 units and segment share at 10.7%. The Panda and 500 held a combined share of the A segment of nearly 28%. The 500L, Punto, Sedici and Freemont were also among the top 10 in their respective segments.
Lancia/Chrysler recorded November sales of nearly 6,600 units and share in line with the prior month at 0.7%. Year-to-date, Lancia/Chrysler sales in Europe totaled more than 88,000 vehicles and market share was in line with the prior year at 0.8%. The brand posted sales gains of 28.6% in Portugal, 234.5% in Sweden, 51.9% in Poland and 22.2% in Hungary. Year-to-date, sales were up 198% in the UK, 15.9% in Germany, 31.4% in France and 7.2% in the Netherlands.
Alfa Romeo reported November sales of more than 5,500 units with market share at 0.6%. Year-to-date, the brand’s sales totaled nearly 85,000 vehicles with share at 0.7%.
Jeep brand sales were particularly positive in November with more than 2,300 vehicles sold (+15.5% over November 2011) and share in line with the prior year at 0.2%. The trend was also positive year-to-date with brand sales up 19.8% to nearly 25,900 vehicles and share stable at 0.2%.
By market, Jeep recorded increases of 36.4% in Germany, 6.3% in France, 23.2% in the UK and 3.3% in Spain. Year-to-date, volumes were up 66.8% in Germany, 15.8% in France and 13.1% in the UK.
For Ferrari and Maserati, the Group’s luxury and performance brands, combined sales totaled 226 units for November and 3,799 units year-to-date.
