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July 2013: the 500L leads again

One more time leading the ranking in Europe-15. The Fiat 500L continues to impress in Europe and as it shows the sales registrations during July, when it ranked first with 5.816 units, ahead of the Ford B-Max, with 4.453 units. As usual, the excellent result was mainly explained by its home market, which counted for 61% of the sales in those countries. In June it was 50%. The Fiat had a great month in Italy, but in Spain as well, where it more than doubled the second in the segment. Nevertheless, registrations didn’t exceed 1.000 units barrier in no other market different from Italy. This is not good, as the dependence of the model on Italy becomes quite big. And compared to its rivals, the situation is the same of previous months: the Citroën and the Opel depend 50% on their home markets, while the Ford keeps being the most international and balanced with Germany counting for 39% of its sales.

Spain and Slovenia impress, surpassing France and Germany, and Austria and Switzerland. Big jumps in many markets but very low numbers in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Italy, Spain and France counted for 86% of the sales. Photo by: LEE POWERS PHOTOGRAPHY. Source: see at the bottom of this post

Spain and Slovenia impress, surpassing France and Germany, and Austria and Switzerland. Big jumps in many markets but very low numbers in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Italy, Spain and France counted for 86% of the sales. Photo by: LEE POWERS PHOTOGRAPHY. Source: see at the bottom of this post

It is still to early to see the impact of the arrival of the 500L Trekking, on sale in Italy since early July. But this car will certainly help the model to keep leading the global ranking and maybe surpass its rivals in Denmark, Romania, and Slovenia, where it is close to the leader in YTD results. It is true that car rental purchases are helping the model to become that popular. It is the first option offered in small MPV segment by certain car rental companies in France. Corporate purchases also help as it is evident at Fiat headquarters in Turin, where many 500L are at disposition of many of its managers. But it is not an exclusive case of the Fiat. With the only exception of the Hyundai and the Kia, that may not benefit from big purchases coming from corporations, the Ford, Opel and Citroën’s registrations are equally benefited from that kind of purchases. YTD figures show that the 500L is ahead of the B-Max by almost 6.000 units. France is once again its second largest market with many 500L on the roads (it is more common to see the 500L than the new Panda or the Punto). Contrary to France, in Germany sales aren’t doing that good, and it seems that the excellent performance of Spain (where a lot of units are going to car rentals) will soon beat German registrations.

The 500L did well not only in Italy but in other markets. It was the only small minivan to increase its registrations. Source: see at the bottom of this post

The 500L did well not only in Italy but in other markets. It was the only small minivan to increase its registrations. Change July – June 2012. Source: see at the bottom of this post

USA

While the 500 had a bad month, down a massive 24% (the second fall this year), the 500L jumped from 541 units sold in its first month to 962 in July 2013. This result allowed Fiat to offset the fall of the 500’s registrations. The 500L result is not bad at all, but it is quite far from its main rivals in that market, the Kia Soul (10.160 and up 0,9%) and the Honda Fit (5.047 units, up 9%). Even if I don’t consider the Mini Countryman a rival of the 500L (the Mini is a B-SUV, and the 500L is a B-MPV), it is interesting to see the Mini’s figures: 2.211 units, up 9%. The coming months will show how the 500L is accepted or not by American consumers. Considering the way Fiat is promoting this car (wonderful advertising campaigns) and the good comments of the specialized press, I think it is going to shine as well. We will see.

Click here to see June 2013 results

Source: Carsitaly.net, Good Car Bad Car, Automotive Austria, SDA Czech Republic, Bilimporter Denmark, Best Selling Cars Blog, KFZ Germany, SEAA Greece, Motorstats Ireland, UNRAE Italy, Rai Netherlands, Carmarket Poland, Car Sales Statistics Romania, ADS Slovenia,ANIACAM Spain, BIL Sweden, Auto-Suisse Switzerland

23 thoughts on “July 2013: the 500L leads again”

  2. Well I do prefer the Treeking version of 500L. The bumper makes it a lot better for me. But it is a matter of taste.

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      • Do you have any information suggesting this, or do you only think so because it makes sense? 🙂

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      • Fiat is working on a more powerful 500L for the European market, and it is suposely to be introduced in the coming months, following the success of current range of engines. Anyway I wouldn’t confirm any unauthorized information I could get.

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  7. At first it seemed odd to me also, but…
    just bought one: 1.6 Multijet , panoramic roof.
    Just the perfect car for a small family, incredible space/size ratio, excellent comfort on the long runs, and unexpetedly good to drive (ok, I’ve got 17″ rims 215/45, but the handling is surprisingly responsive for a minivan…). I believe the car has very good potential in Europe also, but there’s need of good marketing and consinstent communication effort.
    I also agree the petrol engine choice is too narrow: the actual range is too focused on the urban use only. In USA it is available the 160HP version but the turbo 1.4 120HP would fit perfectly here, while the 1.3 and the 1.6 already can cover basically all needs for diesels, imho .

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    • Good for you Luca! nice choice!
      I agree, it has a big potential but it all depends on Fiat and its willingness to do it. More engines will come shortly. Enjoy your car!

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  8. Pingback: Aug/13: 500L is narrowly ahead of the B-Max | Fiat Group's World

  9. Pingback: Some Numbers from Europe on the 500l

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