New car sales in Europe tumbled 25.8% last month over November 2007 but Fiat was able to maintain its market share and even expand it over a year ago.
The November sales plunge followed a 14.5% year-on-year drop in October and losses for the first 11 months of the year averaged out to 7.1%.
November was the seventh month in a row that new car sales declined in Europe.
Spain saw the greatest drop in year-on-year sales, down 49.6%, while in Finland sales leapt 71.8%.
Sales in Italy nosedived 29.5% in November after an October fall of 18.9%.
Despite the sharp drop in sales, Fiat's market share in Europe last month rose to 8.3%, marginally higher than the 8.2% a year earlier but down from the 8.6% recorded in October.
For the first 11 months of the year Fiat's market share averaged out a 8.3%, up from 8.1% for the same period last year.
Fiat sales in Europe dropped 24.9% and for the first 11 months of the year were down 5.6% over the same period last year.
The Fiat marque alone accounted for 6.5% of new car sales in November, as opposed to 6.4% a year earlier, while Lancia in one year saw its market share rise from 0.8% to 0.9%, compared to Alfa Romeo which saw its European sales fall from 1% to 0.7% from November to November.
