Sales of compact crossovers in Europe are up 8% in the first quarter of 2021 which beats the stable overall market. As a result, compact crossovers now make up 15.4% of the total European car market, up from 14.3% in Q1 of 2020 and from 13.6% in the full year 2020. The class also surpasses the compact car segment to become Europe’s third largest class at nearly 470,000 deliveries.
The Volkswagen Tiguan consolidates its class leadership with sales up 6% thanks to a facelift, while the Peugeot 3008 jumps into second place with sales up 4%, also thanks to a facelift. The Nissan Qashqai has just been renewed, so deliveries of the new generation still have to pick up the pace. The Qashqai is down 12% in Q1 and drops to third in the ranking. Will it be able to challenge for class leadership by the end of the year? The recently renewed Hyundai Tucson is up 34% and storms to an overall 5th place, ahead of the Toyota C-HR which sees stable sales. The Skoda Karoq is up 5% and leapfrogs the Kia Sportage which is due for a redesign. The Seat Ateca and Opel/Vauxhall Grandland both lose by single digits and so does the latter’s sibling Citroën C5 Aircross. The Renault Kadjar is the biggest loser in the top-20 together with the Mazda CX-30, both at -23%. The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross does even worse just outside the top-20 at -48% as it’s due for a facelift and the addition of a plug-in hybrid version. The Jeep Compass is up 41% to jump into 16th place.
The share of luxury models in this segment is 27.4% in Q1 of 2021, up from 24.3% in Q1 of 2020 but stable on the full-year 2020 share. The Volvo XC40 consolidates the overall #4 spot it also took for 2020 with sales up 62% thanks to the PHEV and EV versions. The BMW X1 is up 25% and moves past the Audi Q3, down 4%. The Mercedes-Benz GLA more than doubles up on the first quarter of last year, when it was in a model changeover. Sales are down 16% for the Range Rover Evoque, while the BMW X2 is up 8% and the Lexus UX is down 7% to move ahead of the Jaguar E-Pace which loses more than half of its sales and is the biggest loser of the class.
We welcome the Cupra Formentor as the best selling newcomer to the segment in an overall 19th place, ahead of the electric Mazda MX-30 at #26, the SUV-coupe Renault Arkana at #29 and the Xpeng G3 electric crossover from China, for now only available in Norway at #31.
| Compact SUV segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Tiguan (est.) | 44.900 | 42.316 | 6% | 9,6% | 9,7% |
| 2 | Peugeot 3008 | 38.227 | 36.787 | 4% | 8,1% | 8,4% |
| 3 | Nissan Qashqai | 37.367 | 42.691 | -12% | 8,0% | 9,8% |
| 4 | Volvo XC40 | 35.646 | 22.046 | 62% | 7,6% | 5,1% |
| 5 | Hyundai Tucson | 33.547 | 24.967 | 34% | 7,1% | 5,7% |
| 6 | Toyota C-HR | 27.990 | 28.049 | 0% | 6,0% | 6,4% |
| 7 | BMW X1 | 25.782 | 20.609 | 25% | 5,5% | 4,7% |
| 8 | Audi Q3 | 23.067 | 24.053 | -4% | 4,9% | 5,5% |
| 9 | Skoda Karoq | 22.923 | 21.864 | 5% | 4,9% | 5,0% |
| 10 | Kia Sportage | 21.345 | 23.015 | -7% | 4,5% | 5,3% |
| 11 | Seat Ateca | 20.592 | 21.245 | -3% | 4,4% | 4,9% |
| 12 | Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X | 20.578 | 22.651 | -9% | 4,4% | 5,2% |
| 13 | Mercedes-Benz GLA | 17.901 | 8.218 | 118% | 3,8% | 1,9% |
| 14 | Citroën C5 Aircross | 16.646 | 17.248 | -3% | 3,5% | 4,0% |
| 15 | Renault Kadjar | 12.449 | 16.187 | -23% | 2,7% | 3,7% |
| 16 | Jeep Compass | 12.365 | 8.773 | 41% | 2,6% | 2,0% |
| 17 | Range Rover Evoque | 10.920 | 12.977 | -16% | 2,3% | 3,0% |
| 18 | Mazda CX-30 | 10.448 | 13.573 | -23% | 2,2% | 3,1% |
| 19 | Cupra Formentor | 9.723 | 0 | New | 2,1% | 0,0% |
| 20 | BMW X2 | 8.499 | 7.903 | 8% | 1,8% | 1,8% |
| 21 | Lexus UX | 4.499 | 4.854 | -7% | 1,0% | 1,1% |
| 22 | Jaguar E-Pace | 2.516 | 5.391 | -53% | 0,5% | 1,2% |
| 23 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 2.508 | 4.801 | -48% | 0,5% | 1,1% |
| 24 | MG HS | 2.172 | 784 | 177% | 0,5% | 0,2% |
| 25 | Subaru XV | 1.804 | 1.987 | -9% | 0,4% | 0,5% |
| 26 | Mazda MX-30 | 1.636 | 0 | New | 0,3% | 0,0% |
| 27 | Jeep Wrangler | 1.160 | 1.483 | -22% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 28 | SsangYong Korando | 1.088 | 1.245 | -13% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 29 | Renault Arkana | 680 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 30 | DR5 | 407 | 0 | Return | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 31 | Xpeng G3 | 125 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 32 | DR6 | 118 | 179 | -34% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 469.628 | 435.919 | 8% |
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.