The large cars segment in Europe is down 2% in the first quarter of 2021, in a stable overall market. This means the segment reduces its market share losses of recent years, but still loses ground on the overall market and now accounts for just 2.1% of the total European car market, down from 2.2% in Q1 of 2020 but stable on the full year 2020 share. The top-7 accounts for over 96% of the segment’s sales and the top-3 accounts for nearly 78% of the class.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class maintains its top spot with sales stable on last year, but the BMW 5-Series has been knocked down into third place by the Audi A6, as the 5-Series is down 11% and the A6 gains 8%. The Volvo S90/V90 is a distant best of the rest again, and at -7% loses half a percentage point of share to 9.5%. The all-electric Porsche Taycan stays in the 5th place it also held in the full-year 2020 ranking, with sales up by 176% on last year when it was still in ramp-up mode. However, its rival Tesla Model S is down 86% to fewer than 200 deliveries in the first quarter. Part of this is internal cannibalization from the smaller and cheaper Model 3, but surely the Taycan is also doing a great job of pulling away buyers. The Audi A7 is down 23% and is under threat from the Lexus ES, while the remaining nameplates are niche players in the segment. The Jaguar XF (-33%), Mercedes-Benz CLS (-50%) and BMW 6-Series (-45%) are among the biggest losers of the class, while the Maserati Ghibli makes a surprise rebound at +67%. We welcome the DS9 to the ranking with its first 255 deliveries and the Genesis G80 with its first 42 deliveries.
| Large car segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 18.650 | 18.690 | 0% | 28,8% | 28,2% |
| 2 | Audi A6 / S6 / RS6 / Allroad | 16.078 | 14.904 | 8% | 24,8% | 22,5% |
| 3 | BMW 5-series | 15.694 | 17.705 | -11% | 24,2% | 26,7% |
| 4 | Volvo S90/V90 | 6.136 | 6.604 | -7% | 9,5% | 10,0% |
| 5 | Porsche Taycan | 3.302 | 1.195 | 176% | 5,1% | 1,8% |
| 6 | Audi A7 / S7 / RS7 | 1.253 | 1.625 | -23% | 1,9% | 2,5% |
| 7 | Lexus ES | 1.245 | 1.109 | 12% | 1,9% | 1,7% |
| 8 | Jaguar XF | 607 | 900 | -33% | 0,9% | 1,4% |
| 9 | Mercedes-Benz CLS | 572 | 1.151 | -50% | 0,9% | 1,7% |
| 10 | BMW 6-series | 366 | 660 | -45% | 0,6% | 1,0% |
| 11 | Maserati Ghibli | 361 | 216 | 67% | 0,6% | 0,3% |
| 12 | DS9 | 255 | 0 | New | 0,4% | 0,0% |
| 13 | Tesla Model S | 198 | 1.396 | -86% | 0,3% | 2,1% |
| 14 | Genesis G80 | 42 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 15 | Polestar 1 | 14 | 29 | -52% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 64.773 | 66.188 | -2% |
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.