In the first nine months of 2020, European sales of subcompact cars, Europe’s largest segment by volume, were down 31% to 1.62 million units, which means the segment now makes up 18.8% of the European car market, down from 19.5% in the same period of 2019.
The top-3 players all gain market share, as the Renault Clio stays on top of the charts while the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa jumps into 2nd place ahead of its siblign Peugeot 208. The Volkswagen Polo, Toyota Yaris and Ford Fiesta are outsold by the Dacia Sandero in Q3, which means the former segment leader Fiesta is knocked down into 7th place. The Sandero is due for a redesign next year, which means it could suffer from the model changeover in the beginning of the year but catch up quickly as soon as the new model arrives in showrooms. The Citroën C3 loses a bit of share, while the Skoda Fabia is down by 42% and was nearly outsold by the Renault Zoe in Q3. Renault’s all-electric hatchback is the star of the segment with sales up 89% so far this year, outselling ICE rivals like the Hyundai i20, Seat Ibiza and Suzuki Swift. The Ibiza, as well as the Nissan Micra, loses more than 40% of its sales this year. The success of the Clio, Sandero and Zoe gives Renault-Nissan a 29% share of the mainstream subcompact car segment, compared to 26.6% for PSA and 16.8% for VW Group.
The all-electric Honda e sells 1,292 units in Q3.
The luxury part of the segment accounts for 9.4% of subcompact car sales in Europe, up from 9.1% in 2019. The Mini stays firmly in control, taking a 9th place overall with sales down 20%. The Audi A1 keeps its share stable with sales down 31% while the Lancia Ypsilon is down 36% as its sole market Italy has suffered more from lockdowns than the rest of Europe. The DS3 and Alfa Romeo MiTo have been killed, leaving this subsegment with just 3 players.
| Subcompact segment | 2020 Q1-Q3 | 2019 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2020 share | 2020-Q3 | |
| 1 | Renault Clio | 184.431 | 244.938 | -25% | 11,4% | 64.863 |
| 2 | Opel/Vauxhall Corsa | 142.117 | 183.397 | -23% | 8,8% | 61.338 |
| 3 | Peugeot 208 | 141.673 | 170.290 | -17% | 8,7% | 55.900 |
| 4 | Volkswagen Polo | 125.567 | 199.773 | -37% | 7,8% | 49.873 |
| 5 | Toyota Yaris | 121.903 | 163.923 | -26% | 7,5% | 46.481 |
| 6 | Dacia Sandero | 119.599 | 174.151 | -31% | 7,4% | 52.486 |
| 7 | Ford Fiesta | 117.420 | 179.574 | -35% | 7,2% | 46.556 |
| 8 | Citroën C3 | 107.525 | 165.447 | -35% | 6,6% | 42.072 |
| 9 | Mini | 80.296 | 100.185 | -20% | 5,0% | 35.333 |
| 10 | Skoda Fabia | 72.971 | 125.003 | -42% | 4,5% | 27.139 |
| 11 | Renault Zoe | 63.350 | 33.607 | 89% | 3,9% | 26.687 |
| 12 | Hyundai i20 | 48.713 | 65.220 | -25% | 3,0% | 21.227 |
| 13 | Seat Ibiza | 47.864 | 79.123 | -40% | 3,0% | 18.109 |
| 14 | Audi A1 | 42.163 | 61.183 | -31% | 2,6% | 13.517 |
| 15 | Suzuki Swift | 36.724 | 46.788 | -22% | 2,3% | 15.735 |
| 16 | Nissan Micra | 30.657 | 51.589 | -41% | 1,9% | 11.812 |
| 17 | Lancia Ypsilon | 29.380 | 45.704 | -36% | 1,8% | 10.608 |
| 18 | Dacia Logan | 28.828 | 45.771 | -37% | 1,8% | 12.965 |
| 19 | Kia Rio | 25.216 | 30.424 | -17% | 1,6% | 9.703 |
| 20 | Honda Jazz | 18.834 | 24.786 | -24% | 1,2% | 9.254 |
| 21 | Fiat 500L | 15.608 | 30.349 | -49% | 1,0% | 5.584 |
| 22 | Mazda2 | 12.103 | 29.090 | -58% | 0,7% | 5.735 |
| 23 | Suzuki Baleno | 2.198 | 12.258 | -82% | 0,1% | 614 |
| 24 | MG3 | 1.984 | 2.835 | -30% | 0,1% | 685 |
| 25 | Honda e | 1.571 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0,1% | 1.292 |
| 26 | Hyundai ix20 | 718 | 14.844 | -95% | 0,0% | 107 |
| 27 | Kia Venga | 97 | 8.876 | -99% | 0,0% | 15 |
| 28 | Ford Ka+ | 62 | 36.887 | -100% | 0,0% | 13 |
| 29 | Fiat Punto | 15 | 477 | -97% | 0,0% | 6 |
| 30 | DS3 | 12 | 5.569 | -100% | 0,0% | 3 |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo MiTo | 0 | 667 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 |
| 32 | Lada Kalina | 0 | 120 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 |
| 33 | Lada Granta | 0 | 21 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 |
| 34 | Nissan Note | 0 | 9 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 |
| 35 | Ford B-Max | 0 | 3 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 |
| Segment total | 1.619.599 | 2.332.881 | -31% |
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.