The minicar segment in Europe is down by 24% in the first three quarters of 2022, in an overall market down 11%. The class now makes up 6.3% of the total European car market, down from 7.3% in the same period last year. This is a result of brands pulling out of the segment due to lack of profitability. Some are switching to EVs while other brands increase the size of their products to make them fall into subcompact class where the margins are better. In the third quarter of 2022 minicar sales were down 16% in an overall market down 2%.
Traditional minicar leader Fiat consolidates its leadership of the class, adding almost 8 percentage points on last year, to 44.2% thanks to its 3 nameplates (we now offer split figures of the two different versions of the 500). The segment podium is now 100% Fiat. The venerable Fiat Panda outperforms the class with sales down just 6%, while sibling Fiat 500 hybrid is down 24% but still firmly in second place and the Fiat 500e EV completes the podium thanks to sales up 52%. However, the 500e was only in 5th place of the class, selling at less than half the volume of the top seller, the 500 hybrid. Last year’s podium finisher Toyota Aygo is being replaced by the Aygo X which already was back to being the #3 seller in the third quarter and closing in on the full-year podium. Even the Hyundai i10 outsold the Fiat 500e in Q3, but not by enough to threaten it for the full-year ranking. The i10’s sibling Kia Picanto slightly improves its share of the class, despite a 20% loss so far this year. Best performer in the class is the Dacia Spring EV, moving ahead of its distant sibling Renault Twingo, while former podium finisher Volkswagen Up! drops down to ninth place with sales down by more than half in the third quarter. The Mitsubishi Space Star completes the top-10 with sales down 9% for the year, but it was down 45% in Q3. Just about every model outside the top-10 is losing even more than half of its sales in the third quarter.
| Minicar segment | 2022 Q1-Q3 | 2021 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2022 share | 2022-Q3 | Change | |
| 1 | Fiat Panda | 95.449 | 101.591 | -6% | 18,6% | 25.523 | 16% |
| 2 | Fiat 500 hybrid | 83.979 | 111.214 | -24% | 16,4% | 29.816 | 8% |
| 3 | Fiat 500e | 46.879 | 30.829 | 52% | 9,2% | 14.161 | 21% |
| 4 | Toyota Aygo X | 42.597 | 0 | New | 8,3% | 25.018 | New |
| 5 | Hyundai i10 | 40.629 | 44.941 | -10% | 7,9% | 15.147 | -3% |
| 6 | Kia Picanto | 38.663 | 48.099 | -20% | 7,5% | 12.179 | -24% |
| 7 | Dacia Spring | 31.220 | 8.117 | 285% | 6,1% | 11.622 | 118% |
| 8 | Renault Twingo | 30.859 | 47.003 | -34% | 6,0% | 8.431 | -18% |
| 9 | Volkswagen Up! | 30.162 | 53.348 | -43% | 5,9% | 8.055 | -54% |
| 10 | Mitsubishi Space Star / Mirage | 22.800 | 25.096 | -9% | 4,5% | 5.561 | -45% |
| 11 | Suzuki Ignis | 16.558 | 35.639 | -54% | 3,2% | 4.291 | -64% |
| 12 | Smart Fortwo | 11.375 | 19.596 | -42% | 2,2% | 1.821 | -62% |
| 13 | Toyota Aygo | 9.575 | 67.887 | -86% | 1,9% | 452 | -98% |
| 14 | Peugeot 108 | 3.874 | 28.177 | -86% | 0,8% | 20 | -100% |
| 15 | Citroën C1 | 3.554 | 29.043 | -88% | 0,7% | 38 | -99% |
| 16 | Smart Forfour | 3.533 | 6.390 | -45% | 0,7% | 338 | -80% |
| 17 | Renault Kwid | 486 | 268 | 81% | 0,1% | 160 | 30% |
| 18 | Seat Mii | 50 | 8.405 | -99% | 0,0% | 2 | -100% |
| 19 | Skoda Citigo | 50 | 4.777 | -99% | 0,0% | 2 | -100% |
| 20 | Suzuki Celerio | 0 | 16 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | – |
| 21 | Citroën C-Zero | 0 | 14 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | – |
| 22 | Peugeot iOn | 0 | 4 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | – |
| Segment total | 512.292 | 670.454 | -24% | 162.637 | -16% |
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.