European sales of minicars decline by 23% in the first half of 2022, in an overall market down 15%. The class now makes up 6.4% of the total European car market, down from 7% 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. Still, the class seems to have recovered in the second quarter, when minicar sales were down 19% in an overall market down 24%.
Traditional minicar leader Fiat consolidates its leadership of the class, adding 9.5 percentage points on last year, to 44.8% 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 Fiat Panda outperforms the class with sales down 12%, while sibling Fiat 500 hybrid is down 19% but still firmly in second place and the Fiat 500e EV completes the podium thanks to sales more than doubling. Last year’s podium finisher Toyota Aygo is being replaced by the Aygo X which already was the #4 seller in the second quarter, moving up to 9th place year-to-date. For now, the South-Korean twins Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 both outperform the class and complete the top-5 ahead of the Renault Twingo and Volkswagen Up! which both lose almost 40% of their sales of last year. At #8 we find the Dacia Spring EV, while the Mitsubishi Space Star is one of the few models to improve year-on-year at +15%. The Suzuki Ignis and Smart Fortwo lose market share but remain in the top-12. They’re followed by the discontinued PSA-Toyota triplets, each down by over 80% and the Smart Forfour, down 32%.
| Minicar segment | 2022-H1 | 2021-H1 | Change | 2022 share | 2022-Q2 | Change | |
| 1 | Fiat Panda | 69.926 | 79.642 | -12% | 20,0% | 34.885 | -7% |
| 2 | Fiat 500 hybrid | 54.163 | 66.843 | -19% | 15,5% | 31.824 | 10% |
| 3 | Fiat 500e | 32.718 | 14.218 | 130% | 9,4% | 19.063 | 173% |
| 4 | Kia Picanto | 26.484 | 32.064 | -17% | 7,6% | 11.974 | -30% |
| 5 | Hyundai i10 | 25.482 | 29.294 | -13% | 7,3% | 13.901 | -14% |
| 6 | Renault Twingo | 22.428 | 36.758 | -39% | 6,4% | 12.856 | -32% |
| 7 | Volkswagen Up! | 22.107 | 35.650 | -38% | 6,3% | 11.828 | -37% |
| 8 | Dacia Spring | 19.598 | 2.784 | 604% | 5,6% | 10.729 | 344% |
| 9 | Toyota Aygo X | 17.579 | 0 | New | 5,0% | 17.419 | New |
| 10 | Mitsubishi Space Star / Mirage | 17.239 | 14.991 | 15% | 4,9% | 8.579 | -6% |
| 11 | Suzuki Ignis | 12.267 | 23.835 | -49% | 3,5% | 4.240 | -66% |
| 12 | Smart Fortwo | 9.554 | 14.752 | -35% | 2,7% | 5.129 | -32% |
| 13 | Toyota Aygo | 9.123 | 46.877 | -81% | 2,6% | 2.348 | -91% |
| 14 | Peugeot 108 | 3.854 | 20.960 | -82% | 1,1% | 746 | -93% |
| 15 | Citroën C1 | 3.516 | 21.736 | -84% | 1,0% | 481 | -96% |
| 16 | Smart Forfour | 3.195 | 4.698 | -32% | 0,9% | 1.005 | -61% |
| 17 | Renault Kwid | 326 | 145 | 125% | 0,1% | 198 | 148% |
| 18 | Seat Mii | 48 | 5.832 | -99% | 0,0% | 6 | -100% |
| 19 | Skoda Citigo | 48 | 3.792 | -99% | 0,0% | 10 | -99% |
| 20 | Suzuki Celerio | 0 | 16 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 21 | Citroën C-Zero | 0 | 14 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 22 | Peugeot iOn | 0 | 4 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 349.655 | 454.905 | -23% | 187.221 | -19% |
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.