The small crossover and SUV segment is the third largest segment in Europe, behind the subcompact and compact cars, and ahead of the compact crossovers. Sales were down 29% in the first half of 2020, to just under 835,000 units. As a result the segment’s share of the European car market improves from 14.1% in the first half of 2019 to 16.3% so far this year. If the current trend continues, small crossovers will become Europe’s biggest segment in a few years time.
All top-4 best sellers lose share of the segment as new players continue to arrive and fragment the class. The Renault Captur has reclaimed its top spot the Volkswagen T-Roc stole in Q1, as the duo also did in 2019. VW can’t keep up its impressive performance of the first quarter, as the T-Cross also drops from 3rd place in Q1 to 5th place in Q2 and the first half. The Dacia Duster climbs back onto the podium despite sales down by 50% on last year, while the Peugeot 2008 leapfrogs not only the T-Cross but also the Hyundai Kona and Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X to claim 4th place. The T-Roc, Duster and 2008 ere within 1,000 sales of each other in Q2, with the Captur a comfortable 7,000 sales ahead of them. The Kona is the best performer in the top-12 with sales down just 11%, gaining just over a percentage point of share, helped by the EV version which makes up 22% of its sales and the hybrid version which accounts for another 24% of its sales.
The Seat Arona is outsold in Q2 by the Ford Puma, Citroën C3 Aircross and Skoda Kamiq, but stays ahead of those models year-to-date. The Puma has a good chance of cracking the top-7 this year, thanks to its hybrid version and more appealing looks than its sibling Ecosport. The latter is down 56% this year and was outsold in Q2 by the Kia Niro and Fiat 500X. The Niro is down just 9% so far this year, making it the best performing existing model among major players of the class, despite Kia launching yet another nameplate in the segment, expanding its range to 4. The Niro is its best seller, followed by the Kia Stonic and the all-new Kia Xceed in 19th place. The Kia Soul is down in 29th place as a niche model.
Hyundai-Kia now holds 14.5% share of the segment, up from 9.9% last year. VW Group has taken the lead, with 26.1% share, up from 20.5%, ahead of Renault-Nissan, down 5 percentage points to 19.4% and PSA, down 8 percentage points to 18.8% due to the end of production of the Mokka. When the new generation Mokka arrives and the merger with FCA goes through, the combined company could grab the biggest share of the small crossover class.
The Nissan Juke is down 35% and down to 18th place despite a new generation. The Suzuki Vitara, Citroën C4 Cactus and Suzuki S-Cross lose more than half of their sales, while the Mitsubishi ASX is down 38% and the Suzuki Jimny is down just 13%. The all-electric MG ZS outsells the Honda HR-V, which must be painful for the Japanese brand.
Luxury brands have not stormed this class just yet like they have in the larger crossover classes, making up just 6.4% of the segment, down from 6.7% in the first half of 2019 and stable on the 6.4% of the full year. Still just three models compete in this subsegment, of which the Audi Q2 manages to hold its top spot with sales down by 41%, giving it a 14th place overall. The Mini Countryman is down 37% to an overall 20th place while the DS3 Crossback lands at #24. The latter’s optional EV version should help the French crossover climb the ranking in 2020.
| Small SUV segment | 2020-H1 | 2019-H1 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2020-Q2 | |
| 1 | Renault Captur | 71.118 | 120.363 | -41% | 8,5% | 10,3% | 36.618 |
| 2 | Volkswagen T-Roc | 69.810 | 112.944 | -38% | 8,4% | 9,6% | 29.925 |
| 3 | Dacia Duster | 57.967 | 115.477 | -50% | 6,9% | 9,8% | 29.690 |
| 4 | Peugeot 2008 | 53.873 | 92.347 | -42% | 6,5% | 7,9% | 28.959 |
| 5 | Volkswagen T-Cross | 51.922 | 26.121 | 99% | 6,2% | 2,2% | 20.583 |
| 6 | Hyundai Kona | 45.327 | 50.834 | -11% | 5,4% | 4,3% | 18.368 |
| 7 | Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X | 42.897 | 62.308 | -31% | 5,1% | 5,3% | 16.562 |
| 8 | Seat Arona | 37.852 | 57.352 | -34% | 4,5% | 4,9% | 13.020 |
| 9 | Citroën C3 Aircross | 36.943 | 66.837 | -45% | 4,4% | 5,7% | 15.045 |
| 10 | Ford Puma | 36.155 | 0 | New | 4,3% | 0,0% | 17.442 |
| 11 | Skoda Kamiq | 32.285 | 0 | New | 3,9% | 0,0% | 14.335 |
| 12 | Ford Ecosport | 28.185 | 63.795 | -56% | 3,4% | 5,4% | 9.913 |
| 13 | Kia Niro | 27.711 | 30.589 | -9% | 3,3% | 2,6% | 11.533 |
| 14 | Audi Q2 | 25.995 | 44.211 | -41% | 3,1% | 3,8% | 9.064 |
| 15 | Fiat 500X | 24.534 | 52.191 | -53% | 2,9% | 4,5% | 10.337 |
| 16 | Kia Stonic | 24.102 | 31.596 | -24% | 2,9% | 2,7% | 8.804 |
| 17 | Jeep Renegade | 22.438 | 43.777 | -49% | 2,7% | 3,7% | 8.713 |
| 18 | Nissan Juke | 22.389 | 34.483 | -35% | 2,7% | 2,9% | 7.442 |
| 19 | Kia Xceed | 19.967 | 0 | New | 2,4% | 0,0% | 6.950 |
| 20 | Mini Countryman | 18.392 | 29.269 | -37% | 2,2% | 2,5% | 6.914 |
| 21 | Suzuki Vitara | 16.722 | 39.125 | -57% | 2,0% | 3,3% | 7.281 |
| 22 | Citroën C4 Cactus | 14.248 | 32.239 | -56% | 1,7% | 2,7% | 5.987 |
| 23 | Mitsubishi ASX | 9.765 | 15.666 | -38% | 1,2% | 1,3% | 3.779 |
| 24 | DS3 Crossback | 9.143 | 5.199 | 76% | 1,1% | 0,4% | 3.318 |
| 25 | Suzuki S-Cross | 7.806 | 17.999 | -57% | 0,9% | 1,5% | 3.383 |
| 26 | Suzuki Jimny | 6.937 | 7.958 | -13% | 0,8% | 0,7% | 3.083 |
| 27 | MG ZS | 6.684 | 0 | New | 0,8% | 0,0% | 2.572 |
| 28 | Honda HR-V | 6.281 | 11.100 | -43% | 0,8% | 0,9% | 2.088 |
| 29 | Kia Soul | 3.670 | 2.981 | 23% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 1.466 |
| 30 | SsangYong Tivoli | 1.643 | 3.212 | -49% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 756 |
| 31 | Lada Niva | 862 | 1.338 | -36% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 350 |
| 32 | Mahindra KUV100 | 430 | 508 | -15% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 130 |
| 33 | DR4 | 357 | 365 | -2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 134 |
| 34 | DR3 | 340 | 333 | 2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 97 |
| 35 | Mazda CX-3 | 127 | 32.820 | -100% | 0,0% | 2,8% | 18 |
| 36 | SsangYong XLV | 120 | 1.037 | -88% | 0,0% | 0,1% | 49 |
| 37 | Opel/Vauxhall Mokka | 72 | 53.857 | -100% | 0,0% | 4,6% | 4 |
| 38 | Suzuki SX4 | 3 | 5 | -40% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 |
| Segment total | 834.750 | 1.172.517 | -29% |
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.