The European midsized MPV segment has been shaken up this year, although a 2% overall drop in sales doesn’t fully reflect the fierce competition between some of the top sellers.
Excluding the newly arrived VW Golf Sportsvan, only three other models manage to improve their sales, of which one by less than 50 units. Big winner is the Citroën C4 Picasso/Grand Picasso, adding over 30.000 units and stealing the leadership from the Renault Scenic/Grand Scenic for only the second time since the latter created the segment almost 2 decades ago. With a new generation Scenic not due in showrooms until 2016, Citroën has a shot of making it two in a row. However, there’s a new challenger in the segment, which has made a thunderous arrival. Replacing the aging VW Golf Plus which never has ranked higher than 5th in the segment, the Golf Sportsvan boldly took first place in four of the last five months of the year, signaling it has its sights set on the segment leadership in 2015, even without a 7-seater option, which is reserved for the aging Volkswagen Touran.
The Touran loses its third place to the Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max, which will receive a facelift in the second quarter of 2015, while the new Touran, based on VW’s modular MQB platform, is likely to take a few months longer to arrive.
The biggest relative gainer in the segment is the Kia Carens, peaking at a record 22.000 sales, up 56%, despite being already down again in the last five months of the year. It did manage to outsell the Dacia Lodgy, which seems to be hurt by the MCV station wagon version of the Logan.
Photo credit: Coches.netWith two separate models in the segment, Peugeot was the best selling brand in the midsized MPV class in 2013, but has fallen behind its family member Citroën in 2014 as the facelifts of the 3008 and 5008 haven’t helped them to stop the sales slide. A similar fate becomes the Toyota Verso, which is down despite a recent update.
| Midsized MPV segment | 2014 | 2013 | Change | |
| 1. | Citroën C4 (Grand) Picasso | 117.102 | 85.666 | 37% |
| 2. | Renault (Grand) Scenic | 110.023 | 109.985 | 0% |
| 3. | Ford (Grand) C-Max | 89.782 | 98.219 | -9% |
| 4. | Volkswagen Touran | 89.394 | 91.725 | -3% |
| 5. | Opel/Vauxhall Zafira | 82.159 | 85.206 | -4% |
| 6. | Peugeot 3008 | 78.215 | 81.398 | -4% |
| 7. | Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan | 59.356 | 0 | new |
| 8. | Peugeot 5008 | 34.588 | 41.888 | -17% |
| 9. | Toyota Verso | 32.875 | 34.355 | -4% |
| 10. | Kia Carens | 22.307 | 14.340 | 56% |
| 11. | Dacia Lodgy | 21.063 | 33.231 | -37% |
| 12. | Seat Altea | 18.254 | 22.070 | -17% |
| 13. | Mazda5 | 6.626 | 8.390 | -21% |
| 14. | Volkswagen Golf Plus | 6.415 | 61.712 | -90% |
| 15. | Toyota Prius+ | 5.767 | 10.416 | -45% |
| 16. | Chevrolet Orlando | 2.925 | 13.424 | -78% |
| Segment total | 776.851 | 792.025 | -2% |
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.