Sales of minicars in Europe lost 5% in the first quarter of 2017 with 360.000 units sold, compared to an overall market growth of 7,8%. Fiat remains segment leader with two models on top, and both outgroing the rest of the segment, to increase its total share to 31,5%. After reclaiming the lead from its sibling Fiat 500, the Fiat Panda consolidates its first place, but once again it is extremely dependent on its home market Italy which accounts for 81,8% of its total European sales (up from 78,4% in 2016-Q1), compared to “just” 31,6% for the 500. In third place we still find the Volkswagen Up!, but the Toyota Aygo is just 700 units behind after taking third place in February. And the Hyundai i10 isn’t far away in fifth place either, after being the fastest growing model in the segment top-10.
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off
After the top-5 which all grow their volume, we see three French models to lose volume and share: the Renault Twingo and the siblings of the Aygo: Peugeot 108 and Citroën C1. The recently renewed Kia Picanto is up 12% and passes the Smart Fortwo and the Opel Karl/Vauxhall Viva, the latter of which loses almost a quarter of its volume compared to last year. This is in sharp contrast to its sister model Adam, which remains impressively stable. Newcomer Suzuki Ignis comes in with a bang at #13, immediately outselling its more practical and more affordable but utterly soulless sibling Celerio by a large margin without cannibalizing. The Up! increases the gap with its clones as the Skoda Citigo is almost stable and the Seat Mii is one of the biggest losers in the segment with a loss of 26%, casting even more doubt of the added value of this nameplate.
There won’t be a lot of news in the minicar segment for 2017, with only the Kia Picanto getting a complete overhaul. Furthermore the Opel/Vauxhall Adam will be facelifted and Smart will launch electric versions of its Fortwo and Forfour.
Also check out the minicar segment in the US, where the Mitsubishi Mirage (Space Star in Europe) has taken over the lead from the Chevrolet Spark (Opel Karl/Vauxhall Viva in Europe).
| Minicar segment | 2017-Q1 | 2016-Q1 | Change | |
| 1 | Fiat Panda | 59.189 | 56.351 | 5% |
| 2 | Fiat 500 | 54.505 | 53.327 | 2% |
| 3 | Volkswagen Up! | 26.961 | 25.742 | 5% |
| 4 | Toyota Aygo | 26.207 | 23.712 | 11% |
| 5 | Hyundai i10 | 24.803 | 21.951 | 13% |
| 6 | Renault Twingo | 20.432 | 21.662 | -6% |
| 7 | Peugeot 108 | 18.390 | 18.961 | -3% |
| 8 | Citroën C1 | 17.002 | 18.322 | -7% |
| 9 | Kia Picanto | 16.850 | 15.034 | 12% |
| 10 | Smart Fortwo | 16.753 | 16.652 | 1% |
| 11 | Opel Karl / Vauxhall Viva | 15.050 | 19.602 | -23% |
| 12 | Opel/Vauxhall Adam | 13.577 | 14.200 | -4% |
| 13 | Suzuki Ignis | 11.804 | 0 | New |
| 14 | Skoda Citigo | 9.504 | 9.390 | 1% |
| 15 | Smart Forfour | 8.981 | 10.816 | -17% |
| 16 | Mitsubishi Space Star / Mirage | 7.731 | 7.647 | 1% |
| 17 | Suzuki Celerio | 7.611 | 7.485 | 2% |
| 18 | Seat Mii | 3.954 | 5.322 | -26% |
| 19 | Peugeot iOn | 651 | 561 | 16% |
| 20 | Citroën C-Zero | 275 | 418 | -34% |
| 21 | Mitsubishi i-MiEV | 124 | 68 | 82% |
| 22 | Ford Ka | 86 | 10.409 | -99% |
| 23 | Citroën E-Mehari | 73 | 63 | 16% |
| 24 | DR Zero | 68 | 56 | 21% |
| 25 | Mitsubishi Attrage | 39 | 73 | -47% |
| 26 | Chevrolet Spark | 1 | 79 | -99% |
| 27 | Opel/Vauxhall Agila | 1 | 6 | -83% |
| 28 | Peugeot 107 | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| 29 | Suzuki Alto | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Segment total | 360.624 | 377.863 | -5% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2016 and monthly sales from 2012 to 2016, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site.
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.