Sales of small crossover and SUVs in Europe outperform the overall market again in 2020, but they fail to become Europe’s #2 segment due to a strong finish of the year by the compact car segment. Still, at just over 2 million sales, the small crossover class adds two full percentage points of market share to 16.8%.
The two best sellers lose share of the segment as new players continue to arrive and fragment the class. The Renault Captur maintains its top position, helped by the addition of a plug-in hybrid version which represented one in every four Captur registrations in the last two months of the year. In the fourth quarter, its nearest rival was the Peugeot 2008, just 1,700 sales behind in 2nd place. The 2008 came within 2,500 sales of the full year #2 spot of the Volkswagen T-Roc and knocked the Dacia Duster off the podium. The Duster saw its sales tumble 37% as it couldn’t keep up the momentum of its blockbuster 2019. The Hyundai Kona brilliantly jumps into the top-5, helped by the EV version which represents nearly 38% of its European sales. The Ford Puma lands in 6th place ahead of the Volkswagen T-Cross and Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X. The Seat Arona is under pressure from the Kia Niro, as the latter is up 36% to a new annual sales record, thanks to a take rate of nearly 40% of its EV version and another 23% for the Niro PHEV.
In its first full year of sales, the Skoda Kamiq lands just outside the top-10 with a market share of 3.8%, just ahead of the Citroën C3 Aircross which is due for a facelift in 2021. The Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X can’t keep up with the rest of the class, but PHEV versions and a cabriolet of the 500X should help the models recover in 2021. The new generation Nissan Juke is up 23% and jumps to 15th place, while the Ford EcoSport sees its sales slow down to a trickle in Q4 at just over 2,000 per month, with its full-year figure down 61% due to cannibalization of the much better looking Puma. The Kia Xceed lands at #20 in its first full year of sales and outsold its sibling Kia Stonic in the last quarter. The MG ZS almost doubles its sales thanks to the electric version and the expansion into new markets, and it now outsells models like the Mitsubishi ASX and Honda HR-V.
Luxury brands have not stormed this class just yet like they have in the larger crossover classes, making up just 6.1% of the segment, down from 6.6% in 2019. Still only three models compete in this subsegment, of which the Audi Q2 manages to hold its top spot with sales down by 26%, giving it a 16th place overall. The Mini Countryman closes in but still loses share of the class at -20% to an overall 19th place. The next generation Countryman is set to grow into a larger segment as it will be sized similar to the BMW X1 with which it shares most of its underpinnings. The DS3 Crossback lands at #25 in its first full year of sales. The latter’s optional EV version had a take rate of 25% but total sales for the Crossback remain below 20,000 for the year.
In 2021, new entrants will continue to expand the segment, with the Toyota Yaris Cross arriving as well as a new generation Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, introducing the brand’s new design language. We’ll also see the arrival of some new Chinese electric crossovers like the JAC IEV7S and Seres 3, but it remains to be seen if they can come close to challenging the MG ZS or any of the established players.
| Small SUV segment | 2020 | 2019 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2020-Q4 | |
| 1 | Renault Captur | 178.724 | 222.540 | -20% | 8,9% | 9,6% | 53.034 |
| 2 | Volkswagen T-Roc | 158.638 | 207.976 | -24% | 7,9% | 9,0% | 46.028 |
| 3 | Peugeot 2008 | 156.138 | 164.951 | -5% | 7,8% | 7,1% | 51.316 |
| 4 | Dacia Duster | 139.269 | 220.167 | -37% | 6,9% | 9,5% | 39.113 |
| 5 | Hyundai Kona | 126.980 | 105.030 | 21% | 6,3% | 4,5% | 41.001 |
| 6 | Ford Puma | 118.180 | 337 | +++ | 5,9% | 0,0% | 39.793 |
| 7 | Volkswagen T-Cross | 113.320 | 101.229 | 12% | 5,6% | 4,4% | 30.878 |
| 8 | Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X | 91.411 | 114.721 | -20% | 4,6% | 4,9% | 21.432 |
| 9 | Seat Arona | 80.765 | 110.648 | -27% | 4,0% | 4,8% | 19.990 |
| 10 | Kia Niro | 77.830 | 57.337 | 36% | 3,9% | 2,5% | 21.968 |
| 11 | Skoda Kamiq | 75.559 | 12.215 | 519% | 3,8% | 0,5% | 20.816 |
| 12 | Citroën C3 Aircross | 75.281 | 112.089 | -33% | 3,7% | 4,8% | 19.004 |
| 13 | Jeep Renegade | 58.975 | 78.842 | -25% | 2,9% | 3,4% | 18.556 |
| 14 | Fiat 500X | 58.853 | 89.361 | -34% | 2,9% | 3,9% | 17.228 |
| 15 | Nissan Juke | 58.402 | 47.519 | 23% | 2,9% | 2,0% | 16.403 |
| 16 | Audi Q2 | 57.825 | 78.335 | -26% | 2,9% | 3,4% | 13.628 |
| 17 | Kia Stonic | 51.498 | 64.248 | -20% | 2,6% | 2,8% | 10.523 |
| 18 | Ford Ecosport | 47.548 | 120.376 | -61% | 2,4% | 5,2% | 6.108 |
| 19 | Mini Countryman | 45.139 | 56.629 | -20% | 2,2% | 2,4% | 14.357 |
| 20 | Kia Xceed | 45.023 | 10.080 | 347% | 2,2% | 0,4% | 11.354 |
| 21 | Suzuki Vitara | 43.727 | 81.860 | -47% | 2,2% | 3,5% | 12.283 |
| 22 | Citroën C4 Cactus | 26.379 | 52.600 | -50% | 1,3% | 2,3% | 3.769 |
| 23 | Suzuki S-Cross | 20.776 | 36.154 | -43% | 1,0% | 1,6% | 6.471 |
| 24 | MG ZS | 19.676 | 9.872 | 99% | 1,0% | 0,4% | 5.293 |
| 25 | DS3 Crossback | 19.496 | 17.828 | 9% | 1,0% | 0,8% | 5.240 |
| 26 | Mitsubishi ASX | 17.983 | 30.622 | -41% | 0,9% | 1,3% | 3.190 |
| 27 | Honda HR-V | 14.390 | 21.747 | -34% | 0,7% | 0,9% | 3.106 |
| 28 | Suzuki Jimny | 10.063 | 16.605 | -39% | 0,5% | 0,7% | 933 |
| 29 | Kia Soul | 8.038 | 5.122 | 57% | 0,4% | 0,2% | 1.947 |
| 30 | Mazda CX-3 | 5.171 | 61.962 | -92% | 0,3% | 2,7% | 3.006 |
| 31 | SsangYong Tivoli | 3.831 | 5.755 | -33% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 819 |
| 32 | Lada Niva | 1.362 | 2.827 | -52% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 140 |
| 33 | Mahindra KUV100 | 956 | 956 | 0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 262 |
| 34 | DR4 | 694 | 722 | -4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 118 |
| 35 | DR3 | 524 | 855 | -39% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 71 |
| 36 | SsangYong XLV | 251 | 1.723 | -85% | 0,0% | 0,1% | 39 |
| 37 | Opel/Vauxhall Mokka | 136 | 79.693 | -100% | 0,0% | 3,4% | 56 |
| 38 | Suzuki SX4 | 3 | 14 | -79% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 |
| Segment total | 2.007.900 | 2.319.262 | -13% |
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.