Sales of subcompact cars, Europe’s largest segment by volume, are down 32% to 566,000 units in the first quarter of 2020, which means the segment now makes up 18.6% of the European car market, down from 20.3% in Q1 of 2019 and 19.1% in all of 2019.
It appears from the top-3 that the freshest models are least affected by the downturn, with the Renault Clio remaining the best seller of the class and a stable share, followed by the Peugeot 208 and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa in tow, both beating the market and improving their shares. That means the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta, last year’s top-3 players, are down into 4th and 5th, with the Polo losing 40% of its sales and the Fiesta down 31%. The Toyota Yaris is impressively stable at -28%, considering it’s due to be replaced by a new generation soon. The Citroën C3 and Dacia Sandero are losing ground as their good runs of the last few years appear to have come to an end. The only nameplate to sell more in the first quarter of 2020 than it did in the same period last year is the Renault Zoe EV, up an impressive 83% to over 20,000 sales and into 1th place, right between the Skoda Fabia and Seat Ibiza, and well ahead of the Hyundai i20. The Nissan Micra loses a tiny bit of share while the Suzuki Swift gains a tiny bit. The Dacia Logan and Kia Rio also outperform the segment, but the big loser of the class is the Mazda2, down 60%. In contrast, the MG3 is impressively stable at -1%, making it the second best performer among subcompact cars. We welcome the all-electric Honda e to the rankings with its first 50 registrations.
The luxury part of the segment accounts for 10% of sales, up from 9.5% in 2019. The Mini stays firmly in control, taking a 10th place overall with sales down 24%. The Audi A1 gains share with sales down 22% while the Lancia Ypsilon is down 31% as its sole market Italy was shut down in March earlier 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 | 2019-Q1 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | |
| 1 | Renault Clio | 59.663 | 85.275 | -30% | 10,5% | 10,3% |
| 2 | Peugeot 208 | 50.593 | 62.503 | -19% | 8,9% | 7,6% |
| 3 | Opel/Vauxhall Corsa | 49.097 | 64.441 | -24% | 8,7% | 7,8% |
| 4 | Volkswagen Polo | 47.142 | 78.935 | -40% | 8,3% | 9,5% |
| 5 | Ford Fiesta | 44.480 | 64.906 | -31% | 7,9% | 7,8% |
| 6 | Toyota Yaris | 43.958 | 61.375 | -28% | 7,8% | 7,4% |
| 7 | Citroën C3 | 37.578 | 60.448 | -38% | 6,6% | 7,3% |
| 8 | Dacia Sandero | 33.370 | 56.329 | -41% | 5,9% | 6,8% |
| 9 | Skoda Fabia | 26.309 | 40.986 | -36% | 4,6% | 5,0% |
| 10 | Mini | 26.135 | 34.193 | -24% | 4,6% | 4,1% |
| 11 | Renault Zoe | 20.438 | 11.153 | 83% | 3,6% | 1,3% |
| 12 | Seat Ibiza | 19.198 | 25.015 | -23% | 3,4% | 3,0% |
| 13 | Audi A1 | 17.692 | 22.679 | -22% | 3,1% | 2,7% |
| 14 | Hyundai i20 | 16.556 | 21.407 | -23% | 2,9% | 2,6% |
| 15 | Lancia Ypsilon | 12.716 | 18.526 | -31% | 2,2% | 2,2% |
| 16 | Nissan Micra | 12.707 | 18.875 | -33% | 2,2% | 2,3% |
| 17 | Suzuki Swift | 11.733 | 16.586 | -29% | 2,1% | 2,0% |
| 18 | Dacia Logan | 9.217 | 12.713 | -27% | 1,6% | 1,5% |
| 19 | Kia Rio | 8.836 | 10.849 | -19% | 1,6% | 1,3% |
| 20 | Honda Jazz | 6.361 | 10.023 | -37% | 1,1% | 1,2% |
| 21 | Fiat 500L | 6.166 | 11.098 | -44% | 1,1% | 1,3% |
| 22 | Mazda2 | 3.672 | 9.077 | -60% | 0,6% | 1,1% |
| 23 | MG3 | 952 | 958 | -1% | 0,2% | 0,1% |
| 24 | Suzuki Baleno | 829 | 3.925 | -79% | 0,1% | 0,5% |
| 25 | Hyundai ix20 | 528 | 3.973 | -87% | 0,1% | 0,5% |
| 26 | Kia Venga | 60 | 3.484 | -98% | 0,0% | 0,4% |
| 27 | Honda e | 50 | 0 | #DIV/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 28 | Ford Ka+ | 41 | 14.168 | -100% | 0,0% | 1,7% |
| 29 | Fiat Punto | 5 | 362 | -99% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 30 | DS3 | 4 | 2.478 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,3% |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo MiTo | 0 | 384 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 32 | Nissan Note | 0 | 6 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 33 | Ford B-Max | 0 | 2 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 566.086 | 827.265 | -32% |
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.