Sales of compact crossovers in the US are up 17% in the first three quarters of 2021, beating the overall market, up 13%. That means the largest segment in the US grows its share of the US passenger car market to 23.2%, up from 22.4% in the first nine months of 2020, at a volume of over 2,7 million deliveries. In the third quarter, compact crossover sales were down 14% in an overall market down 13%.
The Toyota RAV4 stays on top of the ranking but sees its share of the segment drop 1.5 percentage points to 11.5%. The RAV4 was outsold in Q2 by the Honda CR-V but rebounded strongly in Q3 to consolidate its class leadership. The Nissan Rogue follows at a distance but with a nice gap to the Chevrolet Equinox. The latter was down to 9th place in Q3, outsold even by the Hyundai Tucson. The Tesla Model Y was estimated to be the overall #4 best seller in the third quarter, closely followed by the Mazda CX-5 which leapfrogs the Subaru Forester. The Subaru Outback is in danger of losing its 7th place to the Model Y by the end of the year. The Ford Escape drops to 10th place with sales down 15% on last year, while the Kia Sportage and Jeep Compass outperform in Q3. Newcomer Ford Bronco Sport climbs to 12th place ahead of the Jeep Cherokee. Some of the biggest losers of the class are the Chevrolet Blazer at -29% and its sibling GMC Terrain at -28%, while the Buick Envision is up 40% thanks to the new generation. Thanks to the new generation, the Mitsubishi Outlander has a strong third quarter, reducing its year-to-date loss from 30% after Q2 to just 8%, climbing from #32 to #26. Among electric models, the Ford Mustang Mach-E climbs to 28th place but in Q3 it was outsold by the Volkswagen ID.4, the #33 of the class. Much further below, the fuel cell Hyundai Nexo more than doubles its sales but remains a niche player.
The luxury part of the segment outperforms the mainstream compact crossovers with sales up 65%. Luxury crossovers now make up 19.5% of the segment so far in 2021, up from 13.9% in the same period of 2020. Most of this gain can be attributed to the thunderous arrival of the new luxury leader Tesla Model Y. It sells more than double the volume of the next best luxury crossover BMW X3 and lands in the overall top-8 with an estimated 4.4% share of the class. The X3 is up 48% but was outsold in Q3 by the Lexus NX, up 41% despite nearing the end of its life cycle. A new generation NX is on its way to showrooms. The Audi Q5 is one of the best performing models at +70% but it was outsold in Q3 by a small margin by the Acura RDX. Due to the microchip shortages, the Mercedes-Benz GLC sold less than a third of those rivals in the third quarter and drops to 6th place among luxury models and 22nd place overall. In Q3 even the Volvo XC60 sold more than double the GLC, and as the Cadillac XT5. The Mercedes-Benz GLB also struggled with supply issues but manages to stay ahead of the Lincoln Corsair and Infiniti QX50. The latter two were outsold in Q3 by the Porsche Macan and the Range Rover Velar, as well as newcomers Genesis GV70. The Infiniti QX55 is not yet storming the charts.
US compact crossover sales 2021 – Q1-Q3
| Compact SUV segment | 2021 – Q1-Q3 | 2020 – Q1-Q3 | Change | 2021 Share | 2020 Share | |
| 1 | Toyota RAV4 | 313.447 | 302.574 | 4% | 11,5% | 13,0% |
| 2 | Honda CR-V | 290.140 | 237.334 | 22% | 10,6% | 10,2% |
| 3 | Nissan Rogue | 234.647 | 167.401 | 40% | 8,6% | 7,2% |
| 4 | Chevrolet Equinox | 151.110 | 191.727 | -21% | 5,5% | 8,2% |
| 5 | Mazda CX-5 | 137.343 | 104.277 | 32% | 5,0% | 4,5% |
| 6 | Subaru Forester | 132.254 | 134.082 | -1% | 4,8% | 5,8% |
| 7 | Subaru Outback | 122.978 | 106.342 | 16% | 4,5% | 4,6% |
| 8 | Tesla Model Y (est.) |
121.229 | 5.000 | 2325% | 4,4% | 0,2% |
| 9 | Hyundai Tucson | 116.047 | 91.139 | 27% | 4,2% | 3,9% |
| 10 | Ford Escape | 111.791 | 131.753 | -15% | 4,1% | 5,7% |
| 11 | Volkswagen Tiguan L | 85.000 | 75.563 | 12% | 3,1% | 3,2% |
| 12 | Ford Bronco Sport | 81.204 | 0 | New | 3,0% | 0,0% |
| 13 | Kia Sportage | 78.778 | 62.400 | 26% | 2,9% | 2,7% |
| 14 | Jeep Cherokee | 78.750 | 97.919 | -20% | 2,9% | 4,2% |
| 15 | Jeep Compass | 58.029 | 77.809 | -25% | 2,1% | 3,3% |
| 16 | BMW X3 | 53.993 | 36.400 | 48% | 2,0% | 1,6% |
| 17 | Lexus NX | 50.544 | 35.929 | 41% | 1,9% | 1,5% |
| 18 | Chevrolet Blazer | 50.339 | 71.356 | -29% | 1,8% | 3,1% |
| 19 | Audi Q5 | 49.920 | 29.370 | 70% | 1,8% | 1,3% |
| 20 | Acura RDX | 44.236 | 37.788 | 17% | 1,6% | 1,6% |
| 21 | GMC Terrain | 43.434 | 60.544 | -28% | 1,6% | 2,6% |
| 22 | Mercedes-Benz GLC | 38.131 | 33.987 | 12% | 1,4% | 1,5% |
| 23 | Buick Envision | 37.164 | 26.468 | 40% | 1,4% | 1,1% |
| 24 | Volvo XC60 | 31.583 | 20.462 | 54% | 1,2% | 0,9% |
| 25 | Cadillac XT5 | 24.852 | 24.273 | 2% | 0,9% | 1,0% |
| 26 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 22.924 | 25.046 | -8% | 0,8% | 1,1% |
| 27 | Mercedes-Benz GLB | 22.875 | 18.709 | 22% | 0,8% | 0,8% |
| 28 | Ford Mustang Mach E | 18.855 | 0 | New | 0,7% | 0,0% |
| 29 | Lincoln Corsair | 17.005 | 18.177 | -6% | 0,6% | 0,8% |
| 30 | Infiniti QX50 | 16.991 | 14.569 | 17% | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 31 | Porsche Macan | 16.579 | 13.207 | 26% | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 32 | Dodge Journey | 13.827 | 30.750 | -55% | 0,5% | 1,3% |
| 33 | Volkswagen ID.4 | 12.279 | 0 | New | 0,4% | 0,0% |
| 34 | Range Rover Velar | 9.689 | 8.817 | 10% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 35 | Alfa Romeo Stelvio | 8.003 | 6.758 | 18% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 36 | Jaguar F-Pace | 7.012 | 7.892 | -11% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 37 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 6.941 | 8.775 | -21% | 0,3% | 0,4% |
| 38 | BMW X4 | 6.871 | 4.781 | 44% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 39 | Genesis GV70 | 5.274 | 0 | New | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Land Rover Discovery Sport | 5.178 | 5.859 | -12% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 41 | Infiniti QX55 | 2.977 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Jaguar I-Pace | 809 | 1.546 | -48% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 43 | Hyundai Nexo | 282 | 138 | 104% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Jeep Patriot | 7 | 2 | 250% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Volkswagen Tiguan | 4 | 20 | -80% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 2.731.326 | 2.327.095 | 17% |
Source: Manufacturers.