Sales of small MPVs continue to nosedive, as 2016 segment volume is down 12% in the fourth quarter and down 14% for the full year, barely staying above 300.000 sales. That means the entire segment sells fewer units than the Renault Clio by itself. This also makes it by far the fastest shrinking segment in Europe for the second year running. Until 2014, more than 400.000 small MPVs were consistently sold every year. Unsurprisingly, all models share the pain, with not a single nameplate growing its volume in 2016, after only one model improved in 2015. The segment leader Fiat 500L shows the slowest rate of decline at -4% and improves its share of the segment to 27% and logically remains on top of the ranking, followed by the Opel/Vauxhall Meriva, which will be replaced in 2017 by the Crossland X. This will be a more crossover-like model, co-developed with PSA which will launch a new generation Citroën C3 Picasso on the same platform. The Ford B-Max is unlikely to be replaced when it hits the end of its life cycle, but holds on to the third spot is took from the Nissan Note in the beginning of this year.
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off
In Q4, the Hyundai ix20 was in fourth place of the segment, outselling both the C3 Picasso and the Note, but not enough to threaten these two models for their full year ranking. The ix20’s sister model Kia Venga lost double digit volume in the fourth quarter and stays in last place of the models that are still on sale.
In 2017, the Note will be withdrawn from the European market, as the facelifted version won’t be sold in this continent, nor will the hybrid e-Power version which has been very well-received in Japan. As mentioned above, the Meriva and C3 Picasso will be replaced by crossover-like models, and the same is applicable to the ix20 and Venga. So for our upcoming segment reports in 2017 we’ll merge the current models with the subcompact segment, also accomodating those who consider the Honda Jazz to belong in the MPV segment.
| Small MPV segment | 2016 | 2015 | Change | |
| 1 | Fiat 500L | 82.150 | 85.357 | -4% |
| 2 | Opel/Vauxhall Meriva | 48.813 | 53.250 | -8% |
| 3 | Ford B-Max | 40.474 | 46.147 | -12% |
| 4 | Citroën C3 Picasso | 36.754 | 39.430 | -7% |
| 5 | Nissan Note | 35.884 | 46.267 | -22% |
| 6 | Hyundai ix20 | 33.624 | 35.431 | -5% |
| 7 | Kia Venga | 26.121 | 28.547 | -8% |
| 8 | Toyota Verso-S | 532 | 4.992 | -89% |
| 9 | Skoda Roomster | 89 | 14.951 | -99% |
| 10 | Lancia Musa | 9 | 4 | 125% |
| 11 | Subaru Trezia | 1 | 49 | -98% |
| Segment total | 304.451 | 354.425 | -14% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2016 and monthly sales from 2012 to 2016, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site.
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.