Large SUV sales are down 8% in the first quarter of 2022 as the segment continues to gain share in Europe, outperforming the overall market down 13%. They now make up 3.1% of the total European car market, from 2.9% last year. The share of luxury brands in this class slightly rebounds to 82.1%, from 81.4% in Q1 of 2021. And the entire top-9 of the segment consists of luxury models.
The BMW X5 has led the class in recent years, but at 13% drop in deliveries means it starts 2022 in second place, just behind its archrival Mercedes-Benz GLE. But wait, there’s a catch: Mercedes no longer publishes split sales figures of the regular GLE and the GLE Coupe, which basically is a different model that competes with the BMW X6. So it’s safe to say the X5 still leads the class, for now. The Volvo XC90 completes the top-3 as it did last year and it even grows its share of the class. In fourth place we find the best selling all-electric large SUV, the BMW iX. It outsells the Porsche Cayenne, the best performing existing model in the top-12 with sales up 9%. The Range Rover Sport loses a quarter of its sales as a new generation has just been revealed. The Audi e-Tron is down 18% in 7th place, while the Land Rover Defender is up 8% to outsell a trio of Volkswagen Group players which all see declining sales, although the Audi Q8 still manages to beat the class. The Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7 are not so lucky and lose more than a quarter of their deliveries. The Kia Sorento also struggles at -23%, while its sibling Hyundai Santa Fe is up by a third.
The BMW X6 is down 22% but stays ahead of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class (-11%) and Audi e-Tron Sportback (-15%). The Toyota Highlander outsells the Lexus RX and Toyota Land Cruiser, while the BMW X7 is down 21% but stays ahead of its rival Mercedes-Benz GLS. We welcome the Hongqi E-HS9, for now only available in Norway, at #23. This makes it the most popular Chinese electric SUV ahead of the BYD Tang at #29 and the Nio ES8 at #31. It also already outsells the Land Rover Discovery (-65%) and Range Rover (-79%), the latter of which is due to be replaced as we speak. Other models struggling are the Ford Explorer (-63%), Jeep Grand Cherokee (-85%) as the new generation hasn’t hit European dealerships yet and the Tesla Model X (-98%).
Among uber-luxury SUVs, the Maserati Levante is up 1% at #22, the Bentley Bentayga is up 57% at #27, the Lamborghini Urus is up 18% at #38, the Aston Martin DBX is down 14% at #32 and the Rolls Royce Cullinan is up 46% at #33.
| Large SUV segment | 2022-Q1 | 2021-Q1 | Change | 2022 share | 2021 share | |
| 1 | Mercedes-Benz GLE | 10.070 | 11.243 | -10% | 12,4% | 12,6% |
| 2 | BMW X5 | 9.897 | 11.360 | -13% | 12,1% | 12,8% |
| 3 | Volvo XC90 | 7.231 | 7.166 | 1% | 8,9% | 8,1% |
| 4 | BMW iX | 4.421 | 0 | New | 5,4% | 0,0% |
| 5 | Porsche Cayenne | 4.400 | 4.020 | 9% | 5,4% | 4,5% |
| 6 | Range Rover Sport | 4.348 | 5.790 | -25% | 5,3% | 6,5% |
| 7 | Audi e-Tron | 4.105 | 5.030 | -18% | 5,0% | 5,7% |
| 8 | Land Rover Defender | 4.004 | 3.723 | 8% | 4,9% | 4,2% |
| 9 | Audi Q8 | 3.806 | 3.884 | -2% | 4,7% | 4,4% |
| 10 | Volkswagen Touareg | 3.529 | 4.904 | -28% | 4,3% | 5,5% |
| 11 | Audi Q7 | 3.361 | 4.586 | -27% | 4,1% | 5,2% |
| 12 | Kia Sorento | 2.954 | 3.816 | -23% | 3,6% | 4,3% |
| 13 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 2.215 | 1.660 | 33% | 2,7% | 1,9% |
| 14 | BMW X6 | 2.154 | 2.770 | -22% | 2,6% | 3,1% |
| 15 | Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 2.087 | 2.341 | -11% | 2,6% | 2,6% |
| 16 | Audi e-Tron Sportback | 1.994 | 2.343 | -15% | 2,4% | 2,6% |
| 17 | Toyota Highlander | 1.546 | 1.364 | 13% | 1,9% | 1,5% |
| 18 | Lexus RX | 1.354 | 1.466 | -8% | 1,7% | 1,6% |
| 19 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 1.351 | 1.406 | -4% | 1,7% | 1,6% |
| 20 | BMW X7 | 1.077 | 1.366 | -21% | 1,3% | 1,5% |
| 21 | Mercedes-Benz GLS | 839 | 954 | -12% | 1,0% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Maserati Levante | 645 | 653 | -1% | 0,8% | 0,7% |
| 23 | Hongqi E-HS9 | 584 | 0 | New | 0,7% | 0,0% |
| 24 | Land Rover Discovery | 512 | 1.443 | -65% | 0,6% | 1,6% |
| 25 | Range Rover | 505 | 2.417 | -79% | 0,6% | 2,7% |
| 26 | Ford Explorer | 440 | 1.183 | -63% | 0,5% | 1,3% |
| 27 | Bentley Bentayga | 431 | 274 | 57% | 0,5% | 0,3% |
| 28 | Lamborghini Urus | 404 | 342 | 18% | 0,5% | 0,4% |
| 29 | BYD Tang | 291 | 0 | New | 0,4% | 0,0% |
| 30 | SsangYong Rexton | 278 | 132 | 111% | 0,3% | 0,1% |
| 31 | Nio ES8 | 245 | 0 | New | 0,3% | 0,0% |
| 32 | Aston Martin DBX | 184 | 214 | -14% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 33 | Rolls Royce Cullinan | 111 | 76 | 46% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 34 | Genesis GV80 | 62 | 10 | 520% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 35 | Cadillac Escalade | 25 | 8 | 213% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 25 | 165 | -85% | 0,0% | 0,2% |
| 37 | Dodge Durango | 14 | 22 | -36% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 38 | Chevrolet Suburban | 7 | 6 | 17% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Tesla Model X | 6 | 263 | -98% | 0,0% | 0,3% |
| 40 | Ford Edge | 2 | 86 | -98% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 41 | Chevrolet Tahoe | 1 | 8 | -88% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Mitsubishi Pajero Sport | 1 | 407 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,5% |
| Segment total | 81.516 | 88.901 | -8% |
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.