Fiat, the top-selling brand of Stellantis in 2022

Fiat was the most important brand for Stellantis in 2022, at least from the volumes point of view. Despite the difficulties, the lack of models, and its poor presence outside Europe and Latin America, Fiat was able to outsell Jeep mainly because of the stability of demand in Brazil, its largest market. The double-digit drop posted by Jeep and Peugeot, the other two big brands of Stellantis, also contributed to the better position of the Italian brand.

Last year Fiat and Fiat Professional sold 1.17 million vehicles around the world. The volume was down by 7% compared to 2021, and the second lowest for the brand over the last 30 years, only behind the drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic. The situation of the brand is still complex due to its continuous strong dependence on very few markets and very small lineup in Europe, and somehow in Brazil.

In addition to this, Fiat still needs to find its place within the industry: is it a mainstream brand? a low-cost one? a semi-premium one (Fiat 500)? The two faces of Fiat, the Brazilian and European ones, are still an issue for the global positioning of this brand.

Brazil, its safe haven

A bit more than 1 in 3 of the Fiats sold last year, was sold in Brazil. It was by far the largest single market with 429,600 units, or almost twice the volume it sold in Italy, the second market. Fiat offers seven different models there (excluding the commercial vans), with an average age of just 4.4 years vs 9.5 years for its European lineup. The second generation Strada and the most recent products Pulse and Fastback have been positively received by the public and have allowed Fiat to increase the average transaction price.

The Fiat Pulse had a good start but is not enough. Fiat should enlarge its SUV lineup with more models, even if there is Jeep doing this already. Last year, the SUVs made up 34% of the Brazilian light vehicle sales, and were the only segment to grow vs 2021. In Latin America, these vehicles gained more than 2 points of share to 35.8%, while the traditional cars lost 2 points to 40%.

Italy in dire need of fresh products

Last year in Italy, Fiat posted its lowest market share in 25 years. The brand’s share has dropped by 20 points since 1997 following a reduced lineup, lack of competitive SUVs, and the arrival of Jeep within the group. In 2022, the consumers in Italy and Europe could choose from 6 different models, with one of them (Fiat 500L) being discontinued during the year.

The latest Fiat to be introduced in Europe was the Fiat 500e, presented in March 2020, more than three years ago. The Panda is now 12 years old, while the Tipo was launched in 2015, along with the 500X. The petrol Fiat 500 was revealed in July 2007. Basically, Fiat is present in only three segments, excluding the commercial vans: the city-car segment, the C-segment, and the B-SUV segment. These three segments made up 34% of the total light vehicle sales in Europe in 2022. In other words, Fiat is not selling anything in two thirds of the European vehicle market.

Some more facts around Fiat brand in 2022: