The midsized car segment is slowly recovering from its deep crisis after a record low sales last year, and at +10% even grows slightly faster than the overall market at +8,3%. For the most part, this is the result of the new generations of two of the segment’s best selling nameplates, as most of the other models still suffer large volume declines.
The traditional leader Volkswagen Passat tightens its stranglehold on the segment, with more than one in every three cars sold in this segment being the new generation Passat. The model sells more than double of its nearest competitor, the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, down 3%.
In third place and second-fastest growing model in the top-10 is the all-new Ford Mondeo. Well, technically not all-new since it’s been on sale as the Ford Fusion in the US for almost three years already. But it is a new generation Mondeo for Europe and it adds more than a third to last year’s record low volume for the model, surpassing both the recently facelifted Peugeot 508 and the Skoda Superb. The Superb brilliantly finished 2014 on the segment podium, but is kicked down into fifth place in the first quarter of this year, as an all-new generation will hit European showrooms shortly. I expect the Superb to finish the year in fourth place, well ahead of the 508.
The Toyota Avensis is back up, while its facelift is not even in showrooms yet. As a result, the Avensis is back ahead of the recently updated Hyundai i40 in 7th place and second best selling Asian midsized car behind the Mazda6. The Subaru Legacy and Outback benefit from the all-new generation, but remain niche players in Europe, as opposed to the US, the brand’s most important market by far.
The facelift and addition of a diesel engine-option has helped the MG6 to double its sales in the UK, the model’s only market in Europe. It now even outsells the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera, the failed sister model of the Chevrolet Volt Plug-in hybrid.
| Midsized segment | Q1 2015 | Q1 2014 | Change | |
| 1. | Volkswagen Passat | 51.420 | 37.529 | 37% |
| 2. | Opel/Vauxhall Insignia | 23.701 | 24.345 | -3% |
| 3. | Ford Mondeo | 18.583 | 13.755 | 35% |
| 4. | Peugeot 508 | 12.550 | 11.563 | 9% |
| 5. | Skoda Superb | 11.794 | 12.047 | -2% |
| 6. | Mazda6 | 9.082 | 9.962 | -9% |
| 7. | Toyota Avensis | 7.550 | 7.412 | 2% |
| 8. | Hyundai i40 | 6.312 | 7.594 | -17% |
| 9. | Citroën C5 | 3.795 | 4.865 | -22% |
| 10. | Renault Laguna | 3.370 | 5.343 | -37% |
| 11. | Citroën DS5 | 2.675 | 3.250 | -18% |
| 12. | Subaru Legacy / Outback | 2.403 | 1.938 | 24% |
| 13. | Honda Accord | 968 | 1.079 | -10% |
| 14. | Kia Optima | 955 | 818 | 17% |
| 15. | MG6 | 276 | 137 | 101% |
| 16. | Opel/Vauxhall Ampera | 89 | 233 | -62% |
| 17. | Renault Latitude | 46 | 104 | -56% |
| 18. | Suzuki Kizashi | 19 | 87 | -78% |
| 19. | Seat Exeo | 6 | 160 | -96% |
| 20. | Chevrolet Malibu | 2 | 249 | -99% |
| Segment total | 155.596 | 142.470 | 9% |
Also check out the ranking of the premium midsized segment, where the Mercedes-Benz C-Class has taken the lead from the BMW 3-series.
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.