The compact car segment in Europe is down 20% in the first nine months of 2022 in an overall market down 11%. The segment now makes up just 14.1% of the European car market, down 1.5 percentage points on the same period of 2021. After dropping from second to fourth place among segments last year, compact cars are quickly losing ground further this year. In the third quarter, compact cars were down 6% in an overall market down 2%.
The Volkswagen Golf maintains is position as Europe’s best selling compact car, even though it starts the year once again away from the overall leadership it’s been holding for decades. At -27, the Golf is losing share of its class even though it still holds a 35,000+ lead over its nearest rival Toyota Corolla. The Corolla is down just 13% but was outsold in Q3 by the Skoda Octavia, and by a large maring of 11,500 deliveries. Thanks to the new generation, the Peugeot 308 jumps into an overall 6th place with sales up 43% on last year. The Kia Ceed outperforms the class at -3%, but is under threat from the Ford Focus which keeps its share stable at 5%. The Citroën C4 and Hyundai i30 are both up 8%, for the former that’s undoubtedly thanks to its EV version, while we welcome its sedan version C4 X at #39. The Seat Leon is struggling with a 55% drop in deliveries, something that its sportier twin Cupra Leon (#27) can’t balance. Other models in difficulty are the Volkswagen ID.3 (-46%), Renault Megane (-47%), Opel/Vauxhall Astra (-48%) and Fiat Tipo (-44%). This is a worrying trend for the still-fresh Volkswagen EV, which is apparently cannibalized by its clone Cupra Born at #22. Still, combined sales of the two nameplates are down 13% this year. Compare that to a 16% drop in deliveries for the Nissan Leaf, which has been around for quite a bit longer. The Astra should be able to start its recovery in Q4 when customer deliveries of the new generation pick up steam. In the third quarter, the Renault Megane e-Tech found over 10,000 buyers, already challenging the ID.3 and outselling the regular Megane. MG now has 2 all-electric models in the class: the MG5 station wagon at #29 and newcomer MG4 at #35, which is a direct rival to the VW ID.3. We also welcome the Peugeot 408 to the charts at #37.
The luxury part of the segment accounts for 24.9% of total compact car sales in Europe, stable on the first three quarters of 2021. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class loses its crown with sales down 29%, falling behind the Audi A3 which reclaims the luxury leadership thanks to sales down just 8%. The A3 was up 23% in the third quarter, making it three VW Group nameplates in the top-4. The BMW 1-Series loses 42% of its sales and drops to #10 overall, while the Mercedes-Benz CLA shows a nice recovery in Q3 at +22% to distance the BMW 2-Series Coupe & Convertible, still down 30% so far this year. The Polestar 2 is down to 21st place and in danger of dropping further to #23 by year-end, while newcomer DS4 is still underperforming at #26.
| Compact segment | 2022 Q1-Q3 | 2021 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2022 share | 2022-Q3 | Change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Golf | 132.368 | 181.434 | -27% | 11,6% | 43.309 | -19% |
| 2 | Toyota Corolla | 97.046 | 111.370 | -13% | 8,5% | 28.228 | -21% |
| 3 | Skoda Octavia | 84.341 | 123.021 | -31% | 7,4% | 39.748 | 27% |
| 4 | Audi A3 / S3 / RS3 | 77.470 | 84.433 | -8% | 6,8% | 24.486 | 23% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 65.269 | 92.365 | -29% | 5,7% | 20.522 | -13% |
| 6 | Peugeot 308 | 64.393 | 45.153 | 43% | 5,6% | 22.542 | 140% |
| 7 | Kia Ceed | 59.940 | 61.698 | -3% | 5,2% | 17.999 | -19% |
| 8 | Ford Focus | 57.099 | 71.339 | -20% | 5,0% | 20.075 | -2% |
| 9 | Citroën C4 | 51.203 | 47.544 | 8% | 4,5% | 16.971 | 2% |
| 10 | BMW 1-series | 46.537 | 80.070 | -42% | 4,1% | 14.451 | -32% |
| 11 | Hyundai i30 | 42.868 | 39.519 | 8% | 3,7% | 13.847 | 0% |
| 12 | Mercedes-Benz CLA | 36.890 | 43.255 | -15% | 3,2% | 15.939 | 22% |
| 13 | Seat Leon | 31.216 | 69.326 | -55% | 2,7% | 7.912 | -63% |
| 14 | Volkswagen ID.3 | 29.045 | 53.456 | -46% | 2,5% | 11.813 | -46% |
| 15 | Renault Megane | 28.623 | 53.715 | -47% | 2,5% | 9.289 | -26% |
| 16 | Skoda Scala | 24.585 | 34.578 | -29% | 2,1% | 7.248 | -34% |
| 17 | Opel/Vauxhall Astra | 24.235 | 46.667 | -48% | 2,1% | 6.244 | -57% |
| 18 | BMW 2-series Coupe & Convertible | 20.219 | 28.991 | -30% | 1,8% | 6.370 | -16% |
| 19 | Nissan Leaf | 19.098 | 22.724 | -16% | 1,7% | 6.889 | 1% |
| 20 | Fiat Tipo | 17.851 | 31.648 | -44% | 1,6% | 8.429 | -11% |
| 21 | Polestar 2 | 17.846 | 12.398 | 44% | 1,6% | 4.485 | 18% |
| 22 | Cupra Born | 17.611 | 140 | 12479% | 1,5% | 9.406 | 7248% |
| 23 | Renault Megane e-Tech | 15.046 | 0 | New | 1,3% | 10.619 | New |
| 24 | Mazda3 | 13.263 | 18.174 | -27% | 1,2% | 3.258 | -48% |
| 25 | Hyundai Ioniq | 12.167 | 18.013 | -32% | 1,1% | 4.138 | -28% |
| 26 | DS4 | 11.430 | 215 | 5216% | 1,0% | 3.576 | 1662% |
| 27 | Cupra Leon | 11.173 | 8.692 | 29% | 1,0% | 4.466 | 10% |
| 28 | Mini Clubman | 9.201 | 10.428 | -12% | 0,8% | 2.826 | 3% |
| 29 | MG5 | 8.684 | 3.702 | 135% | 0,8% | 4.737 | 148% |
| 30 | Kia Proceed | 8.669 | 10.787 | -20% | 0,8% | 3.271 | -18% |
| 31 | Suzuki Swace | 3.358 | 3.272 | 3% | 0,3% | 1.159 | -26% |
| 32 | Honda Civic | 2.345 | 11.665 | -80% | 0,2% | 773 | -84% |
| 33 | Hyundai Elantra | 1.645 | 1.091 | 51% | 0,1% | 500 | -28% |
| 34 | Toyota Prius | 1.226 | 2.428 | -50% | 0,1% | 387 | -51% |
| 35 | MG4 | 757 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 757 | New |
| 36 | Subaru Impreza | 379 | 397 | -5% | 0,0% | 114 | 10% |
| 37 | Peugeot 408 | 169 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 169 | New |
| 38 | Peugeot 301 | 131 | 515 | -75% | 0,0% | 2 | -99% |
| 39 | Citroën C4 X | 102 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 102 | New |
| 40 | Citroën C-Elysee | 15 | 798 | -98% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 41 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 13 | 2.852 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 42 | Volvo V40 | 3 | 24 | -88% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 43 | Opel Ampera-e | 1 | 114 | -99% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 44 | Lexus CT | 0 | 1.227 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 1.145.530 | 1.429.238 | -20% | 397.056 | -6% |
Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.