Compact car sales in Europe were down 26% in the first half of 2022 in an overall market down 15%. The segment now makes up just 13.7% of the European car market, down 1.8 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 second quarter, compact cars were down 27% in an overall market down 24%.
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 -31%, the Golf is losing share of its class even though it still holds a 20,000+ lead over its nearest rival Toyota Corolla. The Corolla is down just 9% and distances the Skoda Octavia which loses more than half of its sales on last year. In Q2, the Octavia is down by 62% as it was down into an overall 7th place. The Kia Ceed and Peugeot 308 as well as the Citroën C4 and Hyundai i30 manage to improve on last year. The 308 even almost doubles its sales in the second quarter as the new generation is finding its stride. It was in 20th place in Q1 but jumped to #3 in the second quarter. If it keeps up this strength for the rest of the year, it could finish 2022 on the segment podium. Like the Octavia, its Spanish sibling Seat Leon loses more than half of its sales on last year, and even the 45% jump in deliveries for its sporty version Cupra Leon can’t make up for it. Combined, the Leon is down 43%. The Renault Megane also loses more than half of its sales, just when the all-new Megane e-Tech EV is launched, even though the models are not related.
The Opel/Vauxhall Astra is down 44% as the new generation is still picking up steam. We also see a 45% drop in deliveries for the Volkswagen ID.3 but it still outsells its rival Nissan Leaf, down 23%. A 16% drop in deliveries makes the Mazda3 the best performing nameplates in the second half of the top-20, while the Fiat Tipo is in dire need of an update at -58%. The MG5 all-electric station wagon more than doubles up on last year.
The luxury part of the segment accounts for 25.7% of total compact car sales in Europe, down half a percentage point on the first half of 2021, due to sales down 27%. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class loses its crown with sales down 35%, falling behind the Audi A3 which reclaims the luxury leadership thanks to sales down just 18%. It climbs to an overall 3rd place, making it two VW Group nameplates on the podium. The BMW 1-Series loses almost half of its sales and drops to #10 overall, while the Mercedes-Benz CLA and BMW 2-Series Coupe & Convertible lost around a third of their sales at -31% in 13th place and -35% in 18th place respectively. The Polestar 2 drops behind the 2-Series into 19th place and newcomer DS4 moves up into #24 overall, ahead of the Mini Clubman, down 17%
| Compact segment | 2022-H1 | 2021-H1 | Change | 2022 share | 2022-Q2 | Change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Golf | 89.059 | 128.143 | -31% | 11.9% | 42.884 | -39% |
| 2 | Toyota Corolla | 68.818 | 75.656 | -9% | 9,2% | 35.288 | -11% |
| 3 | Audi A3 / S3 / RS3 | 52.984 | 64.590 | -18% | 7,1% | 26.468 | -25% |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 44.747 | 68.866 | -35% | 6,0% | 21.850 | -36% |
| 5 | Skoda Octavia | 44.593 | 91.682 | -51% | 6,0% | 17.498 | -62% |
| 6 | Kia Ceed | 41.941 | 39.501 | 6% | 5,6% | 22.553 | -6% |
| 7 | Peugeot 308 | 41.851 | 35.774 | 17% | 5,6% | 28.895 | 95% |
| 8 | Ford Focus | 37.024 | 50.861 | -27% | 4,9% | 15.940 | -31% |
| 9 | Citroën C4 | 34.232 | 30.945 | 11% | 4,6% | 17.448 | -12% |
| 10 | BMW 1-series | 32.086 | 58.904 | -46% | 4,3% | 18.102 | -40% |
| 11 | Hyundai i30 | 29.021 | 25.699 | 13% | 3,9% | 17.573 | 24% |
| 12 | Seat Leon | 23.304 | 48.022 | -51% | 3,1% | 10.760 | -56% |
| 13 | Mercedes-Benz CLA | 20.951 | 30.216 | -31% | 2,8% | 9.071 | -42% |
| 14 | Renault Megane | 19.334 | 41.160 | -53% | 2,6% | 10.114 | -51% |
| 15 | Opel/Vauxhall Astra | 17.991 | 32.259 | -44% | 2,4% | 9.728 | -44% |
| 16 | Skoda Scala | 17.337 | 23.520 | -26% | 2,4% | 8.890 | -34% |
| 17 | Volkswagen ID.3 | 17.232 | 31.514 | -45% | 2,3% | 8.879 | -55% |
| 18 | BMW 2-series Coupe & Convertible | 13.849 | 21.437 | -35% | 1,9% | 8.343 | -29% |
| 19 | Polestar 2 | 13.361 | 8.587 | 56% | 1,8% | 6.921 | 53% |
| 20 | Nissan Leaf | 12.209 | 15.895 | -23% | 1,6% | 5.341 | -32% |
| 21 | Mazda3 | 10.005 | 11.864 | -16% | 1,3% | 5.221 | -24% |
| 22 | Fiat Tipo | 9.422 | 22.203 | -58% | 1,3% | 5.175 | -61% |
| 23 | Cupra Born | 8.205 | 12 | 68275% | 1,1% | 6.146 | 55773% |
| 24 | Hyundai Ioniq | 8.029 | 12.280 | -35% | 1,1% | 4.704 | -22% |
| 25 | DS4 | 7.854 | 0 | New | 1,0% | 4.284 | New |
| 26 | Cupra Leon | 6.707 | 4.618 | 45% | 0,9% | 5.498 | 62% |
| 27 | Mini Clubman | 6.375 | 7.674 | -17% | 0,9% | 3.110 | -24% |
| 28 | Kia Proceed | 5.398 | 6.815 | -21% | 0,7% | 2.534 | -38% |
| 29 | Renault Megane e-Tech | 4.427 | 0 | New | 0,6% | 4.235 | New |
| 30 | MG5 | 3.947 | 1.795 | 120% | 0,5% | 1.972 | 117% |
| 31 | Suzuki Swace | 2.199 | 1.712 | 28% | 0,3% | 1.178 | 2% |
| 32 | Honda Civic | 1.572 | 6.726 | -77% | 0,2% | 388 | -90% |
| 33 | Hyundai Elantra | 1.145 | 394 | 191% | 0,2% | 568 | 70% |
| 34 | Toyota Prius | 839 | 1.644 | -49% | 0,1% | 440 | -39% |
| 35 | Subaru Impreza | 265 | 293 | -10% | 0,0% | 95 | -21% |
| 36 | Peugeot 301 | 129 | 363 | -64% | 0,0% | 13 | -93% |
| 37 | Citroën C-Elysee | 15 | 619 | -98% | 0,0% | 1 | -100% |
| 38 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 13 | 2.396 | -99% | 0,0% | 1 | -100% |
| 39 | Volvo V40 | 3 | 7 | -57% | 0,0% | 2 | -50% |
| 40 | Opel Ampera-e | 1 | 106 | -99% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 41 | Lexus CT | 0 | 1.088 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 748.474 | 1.005.840 | -26% | 388.111 | -27% |
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.