Sales of small crossovers in the US grow by 38% in the first quarter of 2021, beating the overall market by a large margin which is up 12%. This also makes it the best performing class so far this year, and it grows its share of the US car market to 8%, from 6.4% in Q1 of 2020 and 7.2% in all of 2020. And 2020 already was a record year for the class, as every year since the segment was created in 2010 by the Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman, and new entrants continue to be launched so the class is set to continue to draw customers away from small and compact cars.
The Subaru Crosstrek consolidates its leadership of the segment, growing its share to 11% thanks to a 64% increase in deliveries, while its closes rival Honda HR-V is up 35% and the Chevrolet Trailblazer jumps into third place in its first full year of sales. That means the Trailblazer beats its stablemate and former class leader Chevrolet Trax for the first time. The Trax is down to #7 and is the only nameplate in the top-15 to actually lose sales on last year. The Nissan Kicks moves into fourth place with sales up 75%, ahead of the Hyundai Kona, up 49%. As with sister brand Chevrolet there’s also a change of guards at Buick, with the slightly larger Encore GX moving into 6th place while the older and smaller Encore is down to 16th as the biggest loser of the class at -56%. Relative newcomer Kia Seltos jumps to 8th place, just ahead of the Jeep Renegade, which loses share of the segment. As does the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, while the Mazda CX-30 is up 74% to leapfrog the Ford EcoSport and Toyota C-HR, both with flat sales on last year. The Hyundai Venue is the smallest model in the class and is also one of the smallest sellers among mainstream brands, despite jumping to 18th place.
Luxury brands see their share of the class decline to 12.7%, down from 16.3% in Q1 of 2020 and 15.3% in all of 2020. Best selling luxury small crossover is still the Audi Q3 at #14 overall, and at +54% it’s also the best performing luxury model. The Volvo XC40 is its nearest rival in both regards, up 46% to an overall 16th place. The Cadillac XT4 trails the segment, up just 6%, while the Mercedes-Benz GLA is close behind, up 8%. The Lexus UX passes the BMW X1, while the Range Rover Evoque is one of the big losers at -38%. The BMW X2 and Jaguar E-Pace do even worse at -42% each, allowing the Mini Countryman to move past.
US small crossover sales 2021-Q1
| Small SUV segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | Share | |
| 1 | Subaru Crosstrek | 35.187 | 21.516 | 64% | 11,0% |
| 2 | Honda HR-V | 26.175 | 19.414 | 35% | 8,2% |
| 3 | Chevrolet TrailBlazer | 25.024 | 3 | New | 7,8% |
| 4 | Nissan Kicks | 24.421 | 13.969 | 75% | 7,6% |
| 5 | Hyundai Kona | 22.610 | 15.174 | 49% | 7,1% |
| 6 | Buick Ecore GX | 18.435 | 2.601 | 609% | 5,8% |
| 7 | Chevrolet Trax | 16.955 | 28.242 | -40% | 5,3% |
| 8 | Kia Seltos | 16.786 | 5.052 | 232% | 5,2% |
| 9 | Jeep Renegade | 15.997 | 14.164 | 13% | 5,0% |
| 10 | Mitsubishi Outlander Sport | 15.356 | 12.577 | 22% | 4,8% |
| 11 | Mazda CX-30 | 14.589 | 8.364 | 74% | 4,6% |
| 12 | Ford EcoSport | 12.878 | 12.923 | 0% | 4,0% |
| 13 | Toyota C-HR | 10.401 | 10.372 | 0% | 3,3% |
| 14 | Audi Q3 | 8.575 | 5.556 | 54% | 2,7% |
| 15 | Mercedes-Benz GLB | 7.081 | 4.820 | 47% | 2,2% |
| 16 | Buick Encore | 6.229 | 14.238 | -56% | 1,9% |
| 17 | Volvo XC40 | 5.804 | 3.970 | 46% | 1,8% |
| 18 | Hyundai Venue | 5.784 | 3.166 | 83% | 1,8% |
| 19 | Cadillac XT4 | 5.454 | 5.162 | 6% | 1,7% |
| 20 | Mercedes-Benz GLA | 5.376 | 4.969 | 8% | 1,7% |
| 21 | Kia Niro | 4.311 | 4.975 | -13% | 1,3% |
| 22 | Lexus UX | 3.993 | 3.838 | 4% | 1,2% |
| 23 | BMW X1 | 3.968 | 4.133 | -4% | 1,2% |
| 24 | Range Rover Evoque | 2.443 | 3.911 | -38% | 0,8% |
| 25 | Mini Countryman | 2.162 | 1.674 | 29% | 0,7% |
| 26 | Mazda CX-3 | 1.513 | 2.552 | -41% | 0,5% |
| 27 | BMW X2 | 1.337 | 2.286 | -42% | 0,4% |
| 28 | Jaguar E-Pace | 725 | 1.246 | -42% | 0,2% |
| 29 | Fiat 500X | 265 | 283 | -6% | 0,1% |
| 30 | Infiniti QX30 | 1 | 112 | -99% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 319.835 | 231.262 | 38% |
Source: Manufacturers.