Fiat is celebrating its best monthly result in the UK for four years – since September 2004 – after posting 9818 sales to give the Fiat brand a 3.0 per cent UK market share.

The news comes as UK sales fell for the fifth month in a row. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data shows that the September market closed 21.2 per cent down on last year, while Fiat’s monthly retail sales figure (56.5 per cent up on the same period last year) boosted its market share by 15.4 per cent to 3.0 per cent.

Much of the success is attributed to the continuing appeal of the new Fiat 500, which was launched in the UK earlier this year. A total of 3624 examples of the award-winning supermini were sold in September alone.

“The Fiat brand is on the move,” says Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK. “This fantastic result is testament not only to our eco-friendly cars and the overall desirability of the Fiat range, but to the number of key dealer partners who exceeded their sales targets by more than 150 per cent.

“We expect the fourth quarter to be challenging but, that said, we believe we are positioned to face these challenges. There has been a shift in consumer buying behaviour, and people are choosing to downsize into the small car sector – an area which is clearly one of our primary strengths.”