In the first half of 2022, sales of large cars in Europe continue to trail the overall market at -22% vs -15%. They now hold a share of just 1.8% of the total market, down from 1.9% in the same period last year. In the second quarter, large cars performed on par with the overall market at -24%. A slew of all-electric models is ready to storm the charts in coming years to take over control from the traditional leaders.
If the BMW 5-Series started the year by reclaiming the class lead, in Q2 the Mercedes-Benz E-Class was the best seller, leapfrogging the Audi A6 for second place year-to-date. The A6 lost more than half of its sales in the second quarter, and it’s the worst performing nameplate in the top-12 year-to-date with a 39% drop in deliveries. The Porsche Taycan is up 29% and easily outsells the Volvo S90/V90 which is down 31% as well as its sibling Audi e-Tron GT which is up 83%. The e-Tron GT was outsold in Q2 by the Mercedes-Benz EQE, Mercedes’ new all-electric large sedan which moves into 7th place overall. The Audi A7 and Lexus ES both lost about half of their sales in the second quarter and are losing share of the class in the first half of the year. The Mercedes-Benz CLS is up 20% and the DS9 more than doubles up on last year. Further down, the Maserati Ghibli (-24%), BMW 6-Series (-32%) and Jaguar XF (-72%) are losing ground, while newcomer Xpeng P7 and the Genesis G80 (+170%) remain niche players for now.
| Large car segment | 2022-H1 | 2021-H1 | Change | 2022 share | 2022-Q2 | Change | |
| 1 | BMW 5-series | 24.515 | 29.964 | -18% | 25,2% | 10.661 | -25% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 22.597 | 32.192 | -30% | 23,2% | 11.777 | -13% |
| 3 | Audi A6 / S6 / RS6 / Allroad | 20.423 | 33.430 | -39% | 21,0% | 8.213 | -53% |
| 4 | Porsche Taycan | 8.991 | 6.991 | 29% | 9,2% | 4.053 | 10% |
| 5 | Volvo S90/V90 | 6.900 | 10.056 | -31% | 7,1% | 3.183 | -19% |
| 6 | Audi e-Tron GT | 3.515 | 1.922 | 83% | 3,6% | 1.797 | 26% |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz EQE | 2.745 | 0 | New | 2,8% | 2.584 | New |
| 8 | Audi A7 / S7 / RS7 | 2.022 | 2.780 | -27% | 2,1% | 770 | -50% |
| 9 | Lexus ES | 1.766 | 2.574 | -31% | 1,8% | 677 | -49% |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz CLS | 1.403 | 1.168 | 20% | 1,4% | 622 | 4% |
| 11 | DS9 | 723 | 344 | 110% | 0,7% | 393 | 55% |
| 12 | Maserati Ghibli | 553 | 729 | -24% | 0,6% | 300 | -18% |
| 13 | BMW 6-series | 503 | 735 | -32% | 0,5% | 241 | -35% |
| 14 | Jaguar XF | 341 | 1.217 | -72% | 0,3% | 78 | -87% |
| 15 | Xpeng P7 | 183 | 0 | New | 0,2% | 54 | New |
| 16 | Genesis G80 | 116 | 43 | 170% | 0,1% | 71 | 87% |
| 17 | Dodge Charger | 67 | 95 | -29% | 0,1% | 34 | -36% |
| 18 | Polestar 1 | 55 | 31 | 77% | 0,1% | 32 | 88% |
| 19 | Tesla Model S | 18 | 300 | -94% | 0,0% | 13 | -87% |
| Segment total | 97.436 | 124.571 | -22% | 45.553 | -24% |
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.