VW Up! threatens Fiat Panda’s leadership

If June was a bad month for the couple Fiat Panda-500, July was even worse. If it is considered sales figures of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland, during las month 13.272 Pandas were sold, just 51 units above the sum of Up!, Citigo and Mii. It is the first time the German trio reaches that great result and now it is not only more popular than Fiat 500 but it seems it will beat Fiat Panda and maybe dethrone it in the next months. It is important to mention that in this monthly analysis it is being considered 3 models with 3 and 5 door versions for the VW/Skoda/Seat against one single model of Fiat 500 with only 3 doors option and the two latest generations of Fiat Panda, only available with 5 door body. Anyway, the Panda has been always Europe’s best selling A-Segment car but it has had a tough time not only in its native Italy, where it dropped 17.5% compared to June figures, but also in all other countries except for Romania and Slovakia. The small Fiat fell 25% compared to June figures, much more than Fiat 500, down 16%, while the Germans are up 7%. The 500 is down everywhere in Europe except for Austria, up 17%, Denmark, up 3%, and Poland, up 68%.

In July the Up!/Citigo/Mii are more popular in Austria, Czech Rep., Germany, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. They had a record sales in Austria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland. The situation for Fiat is really bad as two important things must be analyzed: first of all, it was July, a historical bad month for car sales everywhere in Europe, and Fiat models dropped but the VWs were up. And the second one is that the product with the deepest fall was the Panda, an all-new product on sale since January. Year-to-date records show that the Panda commands with a big difference but the 500 will be soon replaced as the second best selling A-Segment car by the German trio. If Italian car market continues to fall, while the Up! keeps rising in Germany, Fiat will not only lose and important market share in A-segment but will be in serious trouble in the next months. Of course the UK, not included due to lack of data, is an important market for the Fiat 500.