Fiat sales for February are up 5 percent compared to last year. It is Fiat's third-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains. Overall Fiat 500 sales totaled 3,465, a nearly 8 percent increase over last month's sales. It is a good overall performance considering the severe weather much of the country experienced last month.
Breaking down February sales for each model, the Fiat 500L recorded a 10 percent increase over the previous month. Sales of the 500 hatchback and Cabrio models were also up 7 percent over January. Still, sales of the 500 hatchback and Cabrio show a double digit drop compared to last February. This has been a continuing trend since the Fiat 500L was introduced last summer. It seems the larger 500L has been cannibalizing sales of the smaller 500 models. The thinking is that the average consumer walking into a Fiat showroom doesn't know about the 500L until they get into the dealership. These shoppers have seen the smaller 500 and are curious about the brand, but once they see the versatile and roomy 500L they buy that over the smaller model. To counteract that, increase showroom traffic and bring the 500L a stream of its own interested buyers, Fiat has launched a new advertising campaign for the 500L with the tagline "Unbelievably Big."
The concept is to challenge the notion that the Fiat brand only makes small cars. “Unbelievably Big,” tells the story that the 500L is a larger model (the compact 500L actually has the room of a full-size car) and encourages those who have never considered a Fiat to visit a showroom.
A new commercial featuring the "Unbelievably Big" tagline debuted in the middle of February and the severe weather of February makes it hard to determine the impact so far of the campaign, but a 10 percent increase over last month's sales are a good omen. We will see in March if the new 500L ads gain some traction.
Fiat 500 Sales in the United States - February 2014
| Fiat 500 | Current Month | Last Year | Vol Change | Current YTD Total | Last Year YTD Total | Vol Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2014 500 500L | 2,664 801 3,465 | 3,302 0 3,302 | -19% new 5% | 5,157 1,530 6,687 | 5,805 0 5,805 | -11% new 15% |
| Jan 2014 500 500L | 2,493 729 3,222 | 2,503 0 2,503 | 0% new 29% | 2,493 729 3,222 | 2,503 0 2,503 | 0% new 29% |
Read more:
No comments:
Post a Comment