FCA Group MD Arnaud Leclerc is counting on premium products

While Leclerc may have been referring specifically to the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep range’s push for greater prominence in the fleet sector, the comment could easily have been applied across the group as a whole, following its fairly dismal 2018 registrations performance.

Perception of the group’s status in the UK has clearly altered as it has continued to struggle to live up to the profile of its brands (including Maserati, which suffered a 24.3% decline in registrations during 2018) to slip well into the wake of other similarly-equipped groups such as Volkswagen and the PSA Group.

In Q1, Fiat’s registrations were down 5.1% compared with the same period in 2018, and its market share was just below 1.6%.