It is known that last year Fiat became the best-selling brand of the Stellantis group. Since the group’s inception in 2021, Jeep has been Stellantis’ largest brand by unit sales volume. However, based on data collected for 94 markets around the world, which represents approximately 98% of the global total, Fiat took the lead in 2022 with 1.17 million units.
The total includes cars and light commercial vehicles and excludes the 12,800 units sold by Abarth. These are the details.
18th place
In 2022, Fiat was the 18th best-selling car brand in the world. It maintained the position from 2021, but was overtaken by Tesla entering 17th at nearly 1.3 million units. At the same time, Fiat preceded Mazda, the 19th best-selling brand with 1.12 million units.
The Turin-based brand recorded a 6.8% drop in sales compared to 2021, better than the double-digit declines recorded by other major brands such as Renault, Nissan, Honda or Volkswagen, but worse than the moderate declines recorded by Kia, Ford. , and Hyundai.
More than half of sales in Brazil and Italy
As expected, most Fiats were sold in Brazil and Italy, its two most important markets. Their combined registrations totaled 651,000 units, or 56% of the global total.
This figure is in line with the strong dependence on other brands in their most important markets. For example, 58% of the Volkswagen brand’s global sales in 2022 were made in China and Germany combined, while China accounted for 47% of the global total. Ford’s two largest markets, the United States and China, developed 57% of its volume.
Fiat’s strong presence in Brazil continues to be the main source of volumes and the best scenario to explore new segments. The latest Fiat Fastback is an example of this. Fortunately for the brand, the Brazilian public reacted rather positively to the offer and Fiat continues to have an excellent image with consumers. Volume held steady at nearly 430,000 units last year.
In Italy, the situation is a little more complex. The Fiat lineup is quite small, with just five models and two rebadged vans. The last time Fiat presented a new model was three years ago with the electric 500. Registrations fell by 18% compared to 2021, mainly due to the lack of interest of Italians in electric cars (the 500 fell by 24%) and in the older range (500X and Tipo, around since 2015, dropped by 31% and 24% respectively).
The Fifth European, Panda Italica
The Fiat 500 remained Fiat’s most popular model. Although much of its sales correspond to the combustion engine version introduced in 2007, this city car continues to appeal to the tastes of many consumers in Europe.
Its sales, particularly in Europe, increased by 5% last year, reaching nearly 180,000 units. The most important markets were Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Spain. Meanwhile, the electric version of the Fiat 500 accounted for 38% of global sales in 2022.
The brand’s Italian division ranked the Panda as the second most popular Fiat last year. According to the data, this model registered a decrease of 1% compared to 2021, reaching 137,600 units. Italian demand accounted for 84% of this total. In other words, Italy is the only market that keeps the Panda alive.
The author of the article, Felipe Munoz, is an automotive industry specialist at JATO Dynamics.
