Italy Car Sales Fiat vs The Rest : 1955-59

The Fiat 1100 came out in 1953 and an attractive car for its day.

I managed to find sales figures for Fiat from way back in the mists of time. Well, the late 50's at least. The Italian market was protected from imports and the Fiat brand reigned supreme. In 1955 it held a staggering 92% of the total sales! I suppose the locals were just happy to afford a car at all after the ravages of war in the 1940's.

Europe was on the up in the late 1950's and things were getting back to normal. Sales in 1950 had been just under 80,000 cars and by 1955, that had over doubled. Another 80,000 sales were added in the next four years too, but even greater growth took place in the 1960's as a future article will reveal.

3.9 million of the Nuova 500 (1957-75) were made

Fiat was growing nicely  in this time but not at the pace of the market. It would be impossible to maintain that sort of share, but by 1959 holding about 80% was still huge. Only having one major brand in the country was the reason, coupled with stiff import duties.

	Year	Fiat	Rest	Total	% Fiat
	1955	148,400	13,500	161,900	91.7%
	1956	183,900	18,500	202,400	90.9%
	1957	169,300	26,200	195,500	86.6%
	1958	169,500	39,700	209,200	81.0%
	1959	201,700	51,600	253,300	79.6%

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1990-99

The Focus came out late this decade made at Saarlouis, Saarland

The early 1990's were marked by a recession, noted in the production chart below. Mainstream car production numbers didn't change during this period, while toward the end of the decade premium cars were hitting 40% of the total cars made in Germany. Ford went from 3rd largest German car producer to 6th over this time.

All premium cars were doing well except Porsche that struggled financially. Reliance on sports cars was at times challenging,  not helped by its dependency on the U.S. which had recessions from time to time. Porsche needed to spread its sales and especially its product range as wide as possible.

Please note that the figures below are in thousands, so three zeros need to be added. 1991 had some production not accounted for.

	Yr	VW	GM	MB	BMW	Audi	Ford	Por	Unkn	Total
	1990	1,509	1,030	574	500	421	594	32	-	4,660
	1991	1,463	981	576	536	450	633	21	17	4,677
	1992	1,550	1,072	531	580	492	622	17	-	4,864
	1993	1,163	849	481	510	341	437	13	-	3,794
	1994	1,162	964	584	550	355	461	18	-	4,094
	1995	1,225	999	588	563	448	518	19	-	4,360
	1996	1,245	1,036	634	570	492	540	23	-	4,540
	1997	1,189	1,040	704	598	558	558	31	-	4,678
	1998	1,617	1,051	851	638	605	556	30	-	5,348
	1999	1,524	1,030	908	680	573	562	31	-	5,308

Summary: Yet another decade of increased production. However, it was getting close to a maximum of what could be expected. The shift to premium was adding value to the industry.

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1980-89

The Audi 90. Clean lines but it looks so 80's

An extra million cars were added to the production numbers for the nine years from 1980 to 1989. Premium brands made up 20% in 1971 but climbed during that decade. For the 80's it was consistently around the third mark. BMW and Audi were closing in on Mercedes but all three were buoyant. Not so for Porsche, whose production slumped in 1988. The brand was heavily reliant on the US and sales crumbled with the stock market crashing in 1987.

The three mainstream car makers were all producing heavily in Germany and things looked good all round. Consistent increase in German car production continued and was being achieved with fewer companies involved in it.

Please note that the figures below are in thousands, so three zeros need to be added.

	Yr	VW	GM	Ford	MB	BMW	Audi	Por	Total
	1980	1,232	787	420	438	330	285	29	3,521
	1981	1,150	810	487	449	338	312	32	3,578
	1982	1,122	951	518	466	363	305	36	3,761
	1983	1,098	935	548	483	408	358	48	3,878
	1984	1,203	777	540	469	412	345	44	3,790
	1985	1,376	903	505	538	431	359	55	4,167
	1986	1,422	897	562	592	432	353	53	4,311
	1987	1,393	916	561	596	443	417	48	4,374
	1988	1,372	895	609	554	464	426	26	4,346
	1989	1,464	989	633	537	490	421	29	4,563

Picture source: Netcarshow.

Car Production In Germany By Brand : 1970-79

1.7 million Opel Kadets were made from 1973-79. A nice, simple car 

Production volume continued its steady incline in Germany, despite the the oil crisis that hit mid-decade. VW continued as the mainstay of the volume, although it went from 46% of the total in 1969 to 33% by 1979. Both GM Opel and Ford had solid gains too. However, while Mercedes and BMW were doing nicely, Audi was stuck in the doldrums.

Porsche got a lift in volume when the 924 model replaced the 914 for 1976. Hanomag was making a few passenger cars which I believe were camper vans. That ended in 1975, with Neckar branded Fiat cars finishing a few years earlier.

Please note that the figures below are in thousands, so three zeros need to be added.

	Yr	VW	GM	Ford	MB	BMW	Audi	Por	Han	Nec	Total
	1970	1,518	812	409	280	159	317	17	4	12	3,528
	1971	1,622	832	479	284	164	282	11	6	17	3,697
	1972	1,373	871	436	324	182	299	15	8	13	3,521
	1973	1,364	868	456	332	196	410	15	7	2	3,650
	1974	1,170	578	286	340	185	266	10	5	-	2,840
	1975	1,050	656	413	350	218	205	9	6	-	2,907
	1976	1,221	919	487	378	268	242	32	-	-	3,547
	1977	1,278	922	543	409	285	318	36	-	-	3,791
	1978	1,346	952	544	404	312	295	37	-	-	3,890
	1979	1,305	960	547	433	328	323	36	-	-	3,932

The 924 model added volume to Porsche