Sales of compact crossovers in Europe are down 36% in the first half of 2020 which narrowly beats the overall market. As a result, compact crossovers now make up 14.4% of the total European car market, up from 13.8% in the first half of 2019 but slightly down from their share of 15% in all of 2019. It’s still Europe’s fourth largest class.
The Volkswagen Tiguan reclaims the lead it took in 2019 but lost again to the Nissan Qashqai in Q1. The Qashqai was in 3rd place in Q2, also being outsold by the Peugeot 3008 and selling nearly 11,000 fewer units than the best seller of the quarter. A new generation is on its way to arrive by the end of the year so in the meantime the 3008 looks set to jump into 2nd place by Q3 and perhaps the full year ranking. The Toyota C-HR holds on to its overall 4th place and distances the Hyundai Tucson but was outsold in Q2 by two luxury models. The Tucson and its sister model Kia Sportage are the biggest losers in the top-13 with sales down 44% in the first half, and the Sportage drops behind the Skoda Karoq and Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X. The latter’s sister model Citroën C5 Aircross is the best performer among mainstream models with sales down 15% and closes in on the Seat Ateca.
The Renault Kadjar loses almost half of last year’s sales, while the Jeep Compass and Mazda CX-5 are down by even more. The latter probably feels some cannibalization from sister model CX-30 which is stuck in 15th place overall. Further down, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is down by more than half, the Subaru XV loses share while the Jeep Wrangler gains share. The new generation SsangYong Korando helps the nameplate to a 62% gain but it remains a niche player, outselling only the two models from Chinese-Italian brand DR and the newcomer Mazda MX-30 EV which sells 30 units in its first month of sales.
The luxury part of the segment accounts for 27% of compact crossover sales, up significantly from 22.9% in Q1 of 2019 and 22% for the full year 2019. The Audi Q3’s newfound leadership of the subsegment is already under severe threat as the Volvo XC40 outsold it by 1,700 units in Q2. The XC40 is up 3% year on year while the Q3 is down 13% in the first half. The BMW X1 is down 38% in line with the overall market but slightly worse than the segment. The Range Rover Evoque beats the segment with sales down 16% but it was outsold in Q2 by the Mercedes-Benz GLA and BMW X2. The GLA has just been renewed and should storm the ranking in the second half of the year. The DS7 Crossback also gains share but it’s got the Mercedes-Benz GLB closing in quickly behind it. Best performer in the luxury class is the Lexus UX with sales up 7% as it was launched in Q1 of last year.
| Compact SUV segment | 2020-H1 | 2019-H1 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2020-Q2 | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Tiguan (est.) | 71.811 | 115.512 | -38% | 9,7% | 10,1% | 29.495 |
| 2 | Nissan Qashqai | 61.429 | 116.344 | -47% | 8,3% | 10,1% | 18.738 |
| 3 | Peugeot 3008 | 58.794 | 107.456 | -45% | 7,9% | 9,4% | 22.007 |
| 4 | Toyota C-HR | 44.118 | 68.496 | -36% | 6,0% | 6,0% | 16.069 |
| 5 | Audi Q3 | 40.698 | 46.857 | -13% | 5,5% | 4,1% | 16.645 |
| 6 | Volvo XC40 | 40.357 | 39.029 | 3% | 5,5% | 3,4% | 18.311 |
| 7 | Hyundai Tucson | 39.625 | 70.167 | -44% | 5,4% | 6,1% | 14.658 |
| 8 | Skoda Karoq | 36.908 | 54.047 | -32% | 5,0% | 4,7% | 15.044 |
| 9 | BMW X1 | 35.657 | 57.135 | -38% | 4,8% | 5,0% | 15.048 |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X | 33.896 | 51.008 | -34% | 4,6% | 4,4% | 11.245 |
| 11 | Kia Sportage | 33.245 | 59.370 | -44% | 4,5% | 5,2% | 10.230 |
| 12 | Seat Ateca | 32.647 | 49.340 | -34% | 4,4% | 4,3% | 11.402 |
| 13 | Citroën C5 Aircross | 29.897 | 35.206 | -15% | 4,0% | 3,1% | 12.649 |
| 14 | Renault Kadjar | 29.548 | 58.156 | -49% | 4,0% | 5,1% | 13.361 |
| 15 | Mazda CX-30 | 22.106 | 0 | New | 3,0% | 0,0% | 8.533 |
| 16 | Range Rover Evoque | 18.246 | 21.807 | -16% | 2,5% | 1,9% | 5.269 |
| 17 | Jeep Compass | 16.757 | 37.015 | -55% | 2,3% | 3,2% | 7.984 |
| 18 | Mercedes-Benz GLA | 13.888 | 36.871 | -62% | 1,9% | 3,2% | 5.670 |
| 19 | BMW X2 | 13.402 | 23.123 | -42% | 1,8% | 2,0% | 5.499 |
| 20 | Mazda CX-5 | 13.371 | 35.063 | -62% | 1,8% | 3,1% | 5.208 |
| 21 | DS7 Crossback | 11.672 | 15.200 | -23% | 1,6% | 1,3% | 4.385 |
| 22 | Mercedes-Benz GLB | 10.306 | 0 | New | 1,4% | 0,0% | 5.752 |
| 23 | Jaguar E-Pace | 7.677 | 15.147 | -49% | 1,0% | 1,3% | 2.286 |
| 24 | Lexus UX | 7.437 | 6.968 | 7% | 1,0% | 0,6% | 2.583 |
| 25 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 7.267 | 15.664 | -54% | 1,0% | 1,4% | 2.466 |
| 26 | Subaru XV | 3.400 | 5.842 | -42% | 0,5% | 0,5% | 1.413 |
| 27 | Jeep Wrangler | 2.922 | 3.900 | -25% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 1.439 |
| 28 | SsangYong Korando | 2.081 | 1.284 | 62% | 0,3% | 0,1% | 836 |
| 29 | DR6 | 274 | 333 | -18% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 95 |
| 30 | DR5 | 171 | 199 | -14% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 171 |
| 31 | Mazda MX-30 | 30 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 30 |
| 32 | Infiniti QX30 | 25 | 535 | -95% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 2 |
| 33 | MG GS | 0 | 351 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 |
| Segment total | 739.662 | 1.147.425 | -36% |
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.