With a 3% decline in sales, the small crossover segment is the best performing segment of the US in the first half of 2020, just ahead of large pickup trucks. The segment remains relatively small with 5.4% of the US car market, up from 4.2% in 2019, but new entrants continue to be launched and the class is set to continue to draw customers away from small and compact cars.
The Chevrolet Trax consolidates its lead of the class as the only nameplate in the top-7 to increase its deliveries, even though the model hasn’t been updated since 2017 and faces cannibalization from the slightly larger Trailblazer that was launched in Q2. Trax’s clone Buick Encore on the other hand experienced the greatest drop of all remaining nameplates at -50%, a loss of sales that wasn’t nearly made up by the newly launched Encore GX. The Honda HR-V and Hyundai Kona stay on the segment podium, although the Ford EcoSport has narrowed the gap in Q2, outselling the Kona and selling only 250 fewer units than the HR-V in the second quarter. The Jeep Renegade moves past the Encore into 5th place, while the Nissan Kicks holds on to 7th place, just ahead of a bunch of newcomers. The Kia Seltos is the highest ranking new nameplate, just ahead of the Buick Encore GX. Further below, we see the arrival of the Hyundai Venue and Chevrolet Trailblazer, while the Mazda CX-3 is down 30% due to cannibalization from the slightly larger CX-30.
The luxury part of the segment makes up 22.3% of total small crossover sales in the US so far in 2020, up from 20.1% in the first half of 2019. And the ranking is very fluid, with yet again a new class leader. The all-new Mercedes-Benz GLB immediately takes the top spot from the Audi Q3, with the Volvo XC40 in second place in Q2 but third place in the first half. That leaves last year’s leader Cadillac XT4 in fourth place with sales down 35%. The Mercedes-Benz GLA loses 26% but of course as a brand they’re by far the biggest seller of luxury small crossovers in 2020. And a new generation GLA is on its way. The Lexus UX is down just 8%, allowing it to leapfrog the BMW X1, down 21% and just ahead of the new Range Rover Evoque, up 22%. The BMW X2 is down 30% while the Mini Countryman loses almost half of its sales. The Jaguar E-Pace remains a niche player in the segment with a share of just 0.5%.
US small crossover sales 2020 first half
| Small SUV segment | 2020 | 2019 | Change | Share | |
| 1 | Chevrolet Trax | 50.708 | 46.370 | 9% | 15,0% |
| 2 | Honda HR-V | 36.895 | 45.179 | -18% | 10,9% |
| 3 | Hyundai Kona | 30.767 | 37.089 | -17% | 9,1% |
| 4 | Ford EcoSport | 30.155 | 34.386 | -12% | 8,9% |
| 5 | Jeep Renegade | 26.859 | 36.036 | -25% | 7,9% |
| 6 | Buick Encore | 24.271 | 48.897 | -50% | 7,2% |
| 7 | Nissan Kicks | 23.162 | 29.263 | -21% | 6,8% |
| 8 | Kia Seltos | 14.078 | 0 | New | 4,2% |
| 9 | Buick Ecore GX | 11.857 | 0 | New | 3,5% |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz GLB | 11.519 | 0 | New | 9,1% |
| 11 | Audi Q3 | 9.967 | 432 | 2207% | 2,9% |
| 12 | Volvo XC40 | 9.520 | 8.553 | 11% | 2,8% |
| 13 | Cadillac XT4 | 9.140 | 14.106 | -35% | 2,7% |
| 14 | Mercedes-Benz GLA | 7.797 | 10.598 | -26% | 2,3% |
| 15 | Lexus UX | 7.349 | 7.969 | -8% | 2,2% |
| 16 | Hyundai Venue | 7.171 | 0 | New | 2,1% |
| 17 | Chevrolet Trailblazer | 6.702 | 0 | New | 1,9% |
| 18 | BMW X1 | 6.440 | 8.136 | -21% | 1,9% |
| 19 | Land Rover Range Rover Evoque | 6.011 | 4.928 | 22% | 1,8% |
| 20 | Mazda CX-3 | 4.757 | 6.784 | -30% | 1,4% |
| 21 | BMW X2 | 4.054 | 5.822 | -30% | 1,2% |
| 22 | Mini Countryman | 3.320 | 6.385 | -48% | 1,0% |
| 23 | Jaguar E-Pace | 1.896 | 2.549 | -26% | 0,6% |
| 24 | Fiat 500X | 678 | 1.484 | -54% | 0,2% |
| 25 | Infiniti QX30 | 133 | 2.449 | -95% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 345.206 | 357.415 | -3% |
Source: Manufacturers.