While major automakers reported slump in sales in 2020, Fiat celebrates.
There were two segments in the auto industry that reported a sales increase last year and it comes as no surprise.
The first of these two segments are of course the exotic and luxury car market, with the likes of Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lotus and even BMW M cars seeing a rise in its order figures over 2019.
Interestingly however, the other segment that reported a modest increase in sales came from the polar opposite to those opulent cars, as sales of the small, frugal city and compact cars were also in demand in 2020. This phenomenon was first seen with Peugeot bucking the sales dip last year thanks to strong sales of its 208, and now Fiat has recently reported that its Panda and 500 have both managed to gain market share in its segment over the last 12 months.
Starting with the Panda, 2020 saw its best market share in history to date with a 47.8 percent hold in its home market of Italy, and a 17.8 percent share of the European market.
This little Fiat hatchback reported its the best year-on-year growth in its segment, up 3.4 percent from 2019, which is in itself not a bad way to celebrate its 40th anniversary last year.
Moving onto the cutesy looking Fiat 500, this particular Fiat has also achieved its best market share ever in 2020 outside of Italy, with a 19.3 percent slice in the European city car segment. Additionally, over 10,000 of this all-new, all-electric variant of the cinquecento had found owners ever since its launch late last year.
The New 500 continues to captivate the European public, achieving a double win, first in France, then in the UK, further improving a trophy haul that already includes ‘Green Car’ at the Automobile Awards 2020, plus ‘Car of the Year and Best Small Electric Car’ bestowed by DrivingElectric, to join the “Best Design 2020” award from the German magazine ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ and ‘Best Design Concept’ in the internationally renowned ‘Red Dot Design Awards’.
Continuing on this electrified theme, both mild hybrid variants of the 500 and Panda that were launched early last year have proved popular sellers too. In fact, with a combined sales figure of over 110,000 for both those cars, Fiat now holds the title as the sales leader in the hybrid city car segment.
Rounding up the small Fiats is the Tipo hatchback. Updated last year with a new jacked-up Tipo Cross variant, the Italian automaker reported sales of this Golf-sized car of over 164,000 units, up by 6 percent on 2019 with 90 percent of its volume sold outside of Italy.
Looking ahead into 2021, Fiat has recently announced too that it has updated its fuel-burning 500 range for the year ahead. These refreshes include changes to the trim levels, exterior colours and interior designs of this chic city car.
