Fiat's total market share in Europe in 2016 rose to 5.1%, a rise of 16.9% over 2015 market share showing the biggest amount of growth for the year of any of the other manufacturers. It came #9 in the top 10 best selling car brands.

Of its 200,324 sales, the current Panda was responsible for 56,824 units. Panda sales have increased by 22% and it was the 11th best selling car of 2016 in Europe.

Overall, its showing a steady improvement and if this can continue over the next few years perhaps the next update will not be made lightly and will build upon the models strengths and they will take advantage of all that income to invest in it!

I'm quite glad things are looking good, and it's selling better than many cars people would 'rather have' where I live. Good sales = better chances of a new model, which means us fans have a lot of Panda to look forward to in the future.

Hope this was interesting to everyone who owns a Panda or is a general fan!

All information in my post comes from: http://www.best-selling-cars.com/europe/2016-q1-europe-best-selling-car-manufacturers-brands/

Hopefully, they'll give us a new Punto soon!

puntofan01 said:

Hopefully, they'll give us a new Punto soon!

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I really don't know why they haven't.

Sure, the obvious answer is, "It isn't selling very well, why would they invest in it?"

I'd imagine the low sales are due to the fact that they HAVENT invested in it. If they did, I'm sure buyers would come back and to it.
It shares much of the Corsa D, which was an extremely high volume selling car, in an extremely high volume segment! So the customers are there!

And then... They're CONSTANTLY investing in markets where, well, Fiat doesn't do well. Hasn't ever done well for very long and possibly even won't EVER do well in..
such as the MPV market with the 500L, I like it, but it doesn't seem to be a big seller in its segment.
the saloon/C segment with the Tipo to rival the likes of the Focus, excellent car form what I've seen, but will it sell well?
the crossover market/4x4 market with the 500X, I don't think its selling well either. Yet they invested a lot in it! A lot of people on here too, surprisingly, only say bad things about it.
the roadster market, I love the 124 Spider, but a lot of people aren't taking it seriously because its a Fiat and because they can get a Mazda MX-5 cheaper!

I like all of these models, but it's not me Fiat need to get onboard their ship. It's the non-Fiat fans they're after, and I'm not sure if their investment would pay off.

I appreciate they're trying to succeed in as many segments as possible, but, why can't they do what Jaguar Land Rover does? And absolutely give 100% of their energy to the segment they do best.

In Fiats case, small cars. Imagine their range was much simpler, the Panda as the cheap functional but well perfected car (if it got the investments and attention its internal sales share deserves!!!), the 500 as the premium and fashionable model but give it more investment and better finish for the price as well as a REAL automatic. And of course, the Punto and maybe even some sort of longer Punto as their bigger offering. If they put all their resources into making those three cars the best they could at as good a price they could, imagine, Fiat would be #1 when you think of a small car.

So far, they're neglecting what they're good at and falling behind. They're rushing into new markets that they're not so good at, at least in the cash payers eyes.. and I don't think it will do them good in the long run. Maybe its to try and succeed in the US? But they won't even take VW seriously, let alone our European idea of a small car. Peugeot and Renault don't bother with the US and they're fairly successful..

Perhaps I'm missing something big here, but I'd love to see them be the last word in small cars.

I must admit, I don't quite understand why they try and sell cars in America: if it doesn't have a V8 option, chances are they won't be interested!

With regards to the 124, they didn't necessarily need to invest too much for that car. I may be wrong, but from what I understand, it's a reskinned MX-5 with a Fiat engine.

It is indeed questionable as to whether the Tipo will sell well or be a flop. To the best of my knowledge, with the more recent Bravo, and possibly with the Stilo before that, Fiat tried to tackle the Golf and Focus head on, hence why they weren't massive sellers, however, with the Tipo, they've changed tactics and offer a car with less unnecessary guff that undercuts the usual suspects by a hefty margin, so fingers crossed, that'll pay off for them.

With regards to the 500 range, as the hatchback was selling so well against the mini, we can only assume that Fiat were hoping to nab sales from some of the larger mini variants, hence the 500L and X ranges. Whilst I don't think it sells as strongly as the closely related jeep renegade, I don't think the 500X is a sales flop either. Certainly, I see more of them around than I do the 500L.

With regards to the Punto, you've hit the nail on the head: it's still largely the same car as what was launched nearly 11.5 years ago, and as a result, people aren't willing to part with hefty sums for 1. At the time that the original Grande was launched, Fiats reputation was cheap, basic runarounds. (Certainly, the majority of mk2 Puntos were the Active model.) Fiat wanted to change that, and hoped that more people would buy the high specification models than had been the case previously. I don't necessarily know if that plan was as successful as Fiat had hoped, but having owned a top spec Grande for nearly 3 years now, I can honestly say they got the car spot on. The question is to which tactic Fiat should take for the Puntos' replacement. The supermini class is probably 1 of the most fiercely competitive markets, if not THE most competitive. These days, people are willing to spend a lot of money on a supermini that's stuffed full of pointless gadgetry, however, I don't think they would be so willing to spend as much on a Fiat supermini as they would 1 wearing ford or Vauxhall badges, no matter how good it is. Ideally, Fiat need to create a supermini that looks fantastic, (they should be able to manage that for a 4th time!) has enough driver aids to secure a 5-star NCAP rating, offers a reasonable level of kit without going too silly, and priced to undercut the main rivals by a relatively noticeable amount but not too cheap. Like yourself, I want them to become immensely successful, but I do think they've got a major struggle ahead of them, especially given how much they've become forgotten in the supermini sector.

There are of course other ways of viewing this:


PANDA
Sales are up, people like it, so why spend more money re-tooling when we have a hefty Chrysler diesel bill to pay.


PUNTO
Sales are low and nobody wants one, so why spend more money re-tooling when we have a hefty Chrysler diesel bill to pay.

But the Punto used to sell well, here in the UK anyway. It's only because it's not been updated enough that sales have gone. Potentially, if they invested in a new model, they'd win decent sales again.

puntofan01 said:

But the Punto used to sell well, here in the UK anyway. It's only because it's not been updated enough that sales have gone. Potentially, if they invested in a new model, they'd win decent sales again.

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Agreed. When the Punto was last released as an all new car you saw them everywhere. Now you can still buy them but only with the older engine tech (a plus point is it's proven tech but two big negatives are tax associated with their larger emission figures and the fact they are short on power and torque compared to rivals). The +versions do seem to be generously equipped though and you can get some real bargains as pre-registered and they are still great looking cars - the design is a real classic. I had a serious look but went for a Panda TA in the end...

I still remember being awestruck the 1st time I saw a picture of the then newly launched Grande Punto, and I think the Grande is still an utterly fantastic looking car to this day. It is genuinely sad that the facelift version has been neglected to the point that people buy them because they're sold at rock bottom bargain basement prices, rather than because they actively want a brand new Punto. I just really hope that Fiat are able to create a brand new model that causes as much of a stir as the Grande did back in 2006.

puntofan01 said:

I still remember being awestruck the 1st time I saw a picture of the then newly launched Grande Punto, and I think the Grande is still an utterly fantastic looking car to this day. It is genuinely sad that the facelift version has been neglected to the point that people buy them because they're sold at rock bottom bargain basement prices, rather than because they actively want a brand new Punto. I just really hope that Fiat are able to create a brand new model that causes as much of a stir as the Grande did back in 2006.

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Tis indeed a shame, but the Punto has become the lost cause. All the focus has been on the 500 variants.


I took a look at the latest FIAT affinity prices and the discounts reflect the demand.


FIAT Spyder - 5% discount
FIAT Punto - 24% discount


You look at the 500L discount and realise that it's not selling like the 500 and 500X. The new Panda at 20% is unchanged. The Tipo at 17% you know will be greater this time next year , if it survives.


http://www.westmidspolfed.com/member-services/services/?/Fiat-Group