2012 started badly for the European car market, especially for Fiat. According to the latest data from Acea (the European Association of Car Manufacturers), in February the general number of registrations in the EU fell by 9,2% year-over-year and 8% month-on-month, to 923.381 vehicles. In the first two months of the year, 1.858.066 cars were sold, 8,3% less than in the first two months of 2011.
In this scenario, the Lingotto went even worse than the average: last month the Turin house saw its sales fall by 16,5%, to 66.249 vehicles. The market share of the Italian group fell to 7,2% from 7,8% in February 2011, however returning above the 7% threshold for the first time since last August. In the first two months of 2012, group registrations dropped by 16,1%, to 135.826 units, and the market share fell from 7,7% to 7%.
In a note, Fiat explains that the February performance was penalized by the car transporters' strike, which caused production and sales losses of 20.000 vehicles, a figure which represents approximately 2% of the overall February market in Europe. Good news instead comes from the Lancia/Chrysler and Jeep brands: the first in February recorded a +3,1% of registrations, the second even a boom of 58,1%.
At the start, Fiat's share on the Stock Exchange recorded a slight decline (-0,2%).
