Sales of compact crossovers in Europe are up 7% to just under 1.8 million deliveries in 2021 which beats the overall market at -2%. As a result, compact crossovers now make up 15.3% of the total European car market, up from 14.1% in 2020. That means compact crossovers have surpassed compact cars for third place among segments, behind small crossovers and the former largest class of subcompact cars.
There’s a surprising new leader of the class, as the new generation Hyundai Tucson shows a 59% surge in deliveries to jump from 6th place in 2020 to the top of the charts in 2021. Last year’s leader Volkswagen Tiguan is knocked down to third place due to a 10% decline, as for the first time since 2011 it’s outsold by the Peugeot 3008 as well. Long-time class leader and last year’s runner up Nissan Qashqai is the biggest loser in the top-12 with a 17% drop in sales into 5th place, just ahead of the Toyota C-HR, up 5%. The class leader’s sibling Kia Sportage is up 24% but from a very low base in 2020 as this is still its second slowest year since 2012, and just before a major redesign of the nameplate. The Skoca Karoq and Seat Ateca both lose 10%, distancing the Stellantis twins Citroën C5 Aircross and Opel/Vauxhall Grandland, both of which lose over 22% of their sales and fall behind the Jeep Compass, up 16%.
In its first full year of sales, the Cupra Formentor lands at #16 and the Renault Arkana at #18, the two newcomers split by the Mazda CX-30 which shows stable sales on its first full year of sales. The Arkana outsells its sibling Renault Kadjar which is due for a replacement by the all-new Austral in 2022. The MG HS lands at #25 in its first full year of sales, just ahead of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross which is stable despite some mixed messages about its future in Europe during the year. It’s also under pressure from the electric Mazda MX-30 in its first full year of sales. Newcomer Lynk & Co 01 outsells the Subaru XV and is the most successful Chinese launch in this class so far, way ahead of the Xpeng G3 at #35 and the Seres 3 at #37, as well as the Chinese-Italian DR models.
The share of luxury models in this segment is almost stable at 27.6%, slightly below 2020’s share of 28%. The Volvo XC40 consolidates the overall #4 spot it also took for 2020 with sales up 12% to a new annual sales record thanks to the PHEV and EV versions. The Audi Q3 is up 3%, also to a new annual sales record and distances the BMW X1 which is down 2%. The Mercedes-Benz GLA adds more than a third to its sales of last year, when it was in a model changeover. The addition of the EQA electric version has helped the GLA to a new annual sales record as well. Sales are down 16% for the Range Rover Evoque, while the BMW X2 is down 12% and the DS7 Crossback is up 2%. The Lexus UX is up 19% to also new annual sales record. The Jaguar E-Pace loses 24% sales and is the biggest loser among luxury models. We welcome the Volvo C40 at #34 with its first 1,152 deliveries.
| Compact SUV segment | 2021 | 2020 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | 2021-Q4 | 2020-Q4 | Change | |
| 1 | Hyundai Tucson | 143.836 | 90.594 | 59% | 8,0% | 5,4% | 33.980 | 23.107 | 47% |
| 2 | Peugeot 3008 | 139.628 | 125.440 | 11% | 7,8% | 7,5% | 28.590 | 34.268 | -17% |
| 3 | Volkswagen Tiguan | 132.601 | 147.764 | -10% | 7,4% | 8,8% | 17.051 | 34.783 | -51% |
| 4 | Volvo XC40 | 123.847 | 110.254 | 12% | 6,9% | 6,6% | 29.805 | 37.890 | -21% |
| 5 | Nissan Qashqai | 113.276 | 135.829 | -17% | 6,3% | 8,1% | 27.291 | 35.685 | -24% |
| 6 | Toyota C-HR | 106.251 | 101.252 | 5% | 5,9% | 6,0% | 21.593 | 23.811 | -9% |
| 7 | Audi Q3 | 92.445 | 89.789 | 3% | 5,1% | 5,3% | 17.679 | 23.651 | -25% |
| 8 | BMW X1 | 86.749 | 88.486 | -2% | 4,8% | 5,3% | 20.521 | 27.771 | -26% |
| 9 | Kia Sportage | 85.509 | 69.016 | 24% | 4,8% | 4,1% | 15.388 | 13.741 | 12% |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz GLA | 75.124 | 55.911 | 34% | 4,2% | 3,3% | 21.545 | 22.009 | -2% |
| 11 | Skoda Karoq | 73.958 | 82.121 | -10% | 4,1% | 4,9% | 13.397 | 22.295 | -40% |
| 12 | Seat Ateca | 63.139 | 70.408 | -10% | 3,5% | 4,2% | 10.610 | 17.818 | -40% |
| 13 | Jeep Compass | 54.738 | 47.312 | 16% | 3,0% | 2,8% | 11.383 | 15.777 | -28% |
| 14 | Citroën C5 Aircross | 54.346 | 69.750 | -22% | 3,0% | 4,1% | 9.339 | 20.637 | -55% |
| 15 | Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X | 51.450 | 71.680 | -28% | 2,9% | 4,3% | 4.832 | 19.452 | -75% |
| 16 | Cupra Formentor | 50.768 | 4.184 | 1113% | 2,8% | 0,2% | 12.863 | 3.961 | 225% |
| 17 | Mazda CX-30 | 49.153 | 48.801 | 1% | 2,7% | 2,9% | 11.663 | 12.308 | -5% |
| 18 | Kia Xceed | 44.522 | 45.023 | -1% | 2,5% | 2,7% | 11.877 | 11.354 | 5% |
| 19 | Renault Arkana | 40.847 | 0 | New | 2,3% | 0,0% | 17.524 | 0 | New |
| 20 | Renault Kadjar | 33.318 | 63.685 | -48% | 1,9% | 3,8% | 6.251 | 14.461 | -57% |
| 21 | Range Rover Evoque | 31.217 | 37.231 | -16% | 1,7% | 2,2% | 5.243 | 9.053 | -42% |
| 22 | BMW X2 | 28.699 | 32.745 | -12% | 1,6% | 1,9% | 6.354 | 9.378 | -32% |
| 23 | DS7 Crossback | 24.529 | 24.087 | 2% | 2,1% | 2,5% | 6.346 | 7.396 | -14% |
| 24 | Lexus UX | 20.320 | 17.077 | 19% | 1,1% | 1,0% | 4.820 | 4.704 | 2% |
| 25 | MG HS | 16.460 | 2.893 | 469% | 0,9% | 0,2% | 5.656 | 1.060 | 434% |
| 26 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 13.716 | 13.772 | 0% | 0,8% | 0,8% | 3.600 | 2.720 | 32% |
| 27 | Mazda MX-30 | 12.249 | 9.477 | 29% | 0,7% | 0,6% | 3.595 | 7.700 | -53% |
| 28 | Jaguar E-Pace | 11.225 | 14.847 | -24% | 0,6% | 0,9% | 2.019 | 3.109 | -35% |
| 29 | Lynk & Co 01 | 7.916 | 0 | New | 0,4% | 0,0% | 5.281 | 0 | New |
| 30 | Subaru XV | 7.139 | 7.341 | -3% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 1.901 | 1.853 | 3% |
| 31 | SsangYong Korando | 4.673 | 4.737 | -1% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 1.097 | 1.105 | -1% |
| 32 | DR EVO 5 | 1.316 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% | 507 | 0 | New |
| 33 | DR F35 | 1.266 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% | 361 | 0 | New |
| 34 | Volvo C40 | 1.152 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% | 1.152 | 0 | New |
| 35 | Xpeng G3 | 438 | 86 | 409% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 143 | 86 | 66% |
| 36 | Cadillac XT4 | 420 | 87 | 383% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 101 | 80 | 26% |
| 37 | Seres 3 | 131 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 37 | 0 | New |
| 38 | DR6 | 122 | 568 | -79% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 1 | 80 | -99% |
| 39 | Ford Bronco Sport | 47 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 0 | New |
| Segment total | 1.798.540 | 1.682.273 | 7% | 391.395 | 463.023 | -15% |
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.