Despite once controlling more than 50 percent of the car market in Italy, the Fiat brand took a massive market share hit last month, with official figures falling to 9.9 percent according to the transportation ministry.
The Italian car market lost 85 percent of its volume after showrooms began closing down by the second week of March, with sales plummeting by 91 percent.
As for why the company’s market share went down so much in its home market, industry experts point to reasons such as a lack of investment in the lineup.
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As per UNRAE, Fiat’s share dropped to less than 40 percent in 1990, and below 30 percent in 1998. When Sergio Marchionne was named CEO back in 2004, the market share stood at 21 percent, where it still hovered even as recently as 2017. By 2019, the number was 15 percent.
This year, Fiat saw its market share recover to 17 percent in January and February, before reaching this historic low in March, although market researcher Dataforce sees the number at 10.4 percent instead of 9.9 percent. In any case, both are still historic lows.
Outside of Italy, the carmaker’s sales have remained relatively steady, mostly because of the 500’s popularity, as 140,530 buyers in Europe landed the stylish minicar back in 2019, as reported by Autonews Europe.
As for the rest of its range, Fiat was forced to drop a number of low-volume models in the past three years, and has since to find replacements for them. Production of the Grande Punto, which was once a top-seller in Italy, stopped in July of 2018.
Right now, the Italian brand is only selling a total of five passenger car models in the 500, Panda, 500X, 500L and the Tipo, and if you count all the 500 variations as one nameplate, then you’re left with just three models.
