Sales of subcompact cars in Europe have grown 5% in the first half to more than 1,4 million units, which is an improvement from a stable 2014 and a 3% growth in the first quarter, but still lags the overall market at +8%. The Ford Fiesta holds on to its traditional leadership of Europe’s biggest segment with growth only slightly below the segment average, despite being the oldest model of the top-8.
Behind the Renault Clio, segment leader in April, the Volkswagen Polo has passed the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa this quarter to reclaim third place. Both models are up 13% year-on-year thanks to their facelifts earlier this year. The Peugeot 208 has also been facelifted recently and is recovering from -3% after Q1 to +1% in the first half.
The all-new Skoda Fabia is storming up the charts, already having passed its sibling Seat Ibiza this quarter, the Czech hatchback and wagon will undoubtedly grab 7th place from the Dacia Sandero in the next quarter. The Fabia also outsold the Toyota Yaris every month in Q2, but by such a small margin that the best selling Japanese subcompact appears safe in 6th place for the rest of the year.
Also making a splash thanks to the new generation is the Hyundai i20, with sales up 24% to 11th place. A top-10 position is so far still out of reach, despite a duo of aging models ahead of it. The Seat Ibiza and Citroën C3 benefit from their vast and faithful home markets to continue to sell well despite being 8 and 7 years old respectively.
The all-new Mazda2 is already up 19% year to date, but doubled its June volume on last year when the new generation started to gain traction. It’ll move past the Honda Jazz as early as next month, but the distance to the Dacia Logan will be too big to overcome in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, European car buyers are still waiting for the new generation Honda Jazz to arrive in showrooms, two years after the model became available in Japan.
Finally, the all-electric Renault Zoe is the fastest growing player in the segment, more than doubling its sales compared to the first half of 2014.
2015 first half subcompact car sales Europe
| Subcompact segment | H1 2015 | H1 2014 | Change | |
| 1. | Ford Fiesta | 173.638 | 167.405 | 4% |
| 2. | Renault Clio | 164.845 | 162.045 | 2% |
| 3. | Volkswagen Polo | 157.996 | 140.355 | 13% |
| 4. | Opel/Vauxhall Corsa | 149.873 | 132.251 | 13% |
| 5. | Peugeot 208 | 119.962 | 119.114 | 1% |
| 6. | Toyota Yaris | 95.280 | 91.140 | 5% |
| 7. | Dacia Sandero | 79.971 | 77.400 | 3% |
| 8. | Skoda Fabia | 76.943 | 60.471 | 27% |
| 9. | Seat Ibiza | 66.469 | 61.429 | 8% |
| 10. | Citroën C3 | 64.017 | 73.094 | -12% |
| 11. | Hyundai i20 | 50.723 | 40.783 | 24% |
| 12. | Fiat Punto | 43.963 | 47.174 | -7% |
| 13. | Nissan Micra | 35.681 | 34.907 | 2% |
| 14. | Kia Rio | 33.155 | 30.599 | 8% |
| 15. | Suzuki Swift | 29.317 | 24.866 | 18% |
| 16. | Dacia Logan | 28.441 | 29.027 | -2% |
| 17. | Honda Jazz | 17.499 | 21.297 | -18% |
| 18. | Mazda2 | 15.137 | 12.714 | 19% |
| 19. | Renault Zoe | 8.353 | 3.679 | 127% |
| 20. | Peugeot 207 | 1.290 | 13.243 | -90% |
| 21. | MG3 | 1.261 | 931 | 35% |
| 22. | Chevrolet Aveo | 101 | 3.395 | -97% |
| 23. | Toyota Urban Cruiser | 22 | 260 | -92% |
| 24. | Mitsubishi Colt | 14 | 178 | -92% |
| Segment total | 1.413.951 | 1.347.757 | 5% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2013 and monthly sales in 2012, 2013 and 2014, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site. Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.