The compact crossovers segment in Europe has been growing briskly in recent years, but in the first quarter of 2019 that growth has stalled as the segment grew by just 1% to 476.000 sales. That means it now makes up 11,7% of the total Euorpean car market, up from 11,1% in 2018. We’ve separated the tables of the compact and midsized crossover segments but still feature them in one post and in one graph as the models in these classes are so close to each other in size and there are so many different opinions on which models belong in which of these segments. Combined, sales in these segments are down 1,5% to 14,2% of the total European car market, and VW Group improves its share of these segments to 23,7% while Renault-Nissan is down to 20,6% and PSA grows to 18,8% of these segments combined, for a whopping 63,1% share by just three manufacturers. The traditional class leader Nissan Qashqai loses a significant chunk of its advantage over its rivals with a loss of 18% and almost 3 percentage points of share. The Volkswagen Tiguan in 2nd place is also down, but by just 4% while the #3 Peugeot 3008 sees stable sales and therefore closes in on its two rivals. The Ford Kuga loses more than a fifth of its sales and is knocked off its 4th place by the Toyota C-HR, up 13%. The C-HR also passes the two South-Korean players Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, both down by double digits. The Renault Kadjar, freshly facelifted, is down 4% and feels the Skoda Karoq and Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X breathing down its neck.
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off
Photo credit: largus.frThe Seat Ateca and Jeep Compass move past the Mazda CX-5 which is down 15%. Mazda is launching the CX-30 this year, positioned just below the CX-5. We welcome the Citroën C5 Aircross to the charts, which is still in startup mode and hasn’t shown its true potential yet. Considering the success of its platform siblings 3008 and Grandland X, the C5 Aircross is destined to claim a healthy share of the segment, but a top-10 position in this competitive environment will be tough. The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is struggling to gain even 2% share of the class, although its polarizing styling probably also stands in the way of high volumes. The Subaru XV, despite still being relatively fresh, is already down 14%, while the new generation Jeep Wrangler is on track for a record year for the iconic nameplate. At the bottom of the ranking, the Hyundai Nexo arrives as Europe’s only hydrogen-only crossover, with 55 sales still an absolute niche model but also a showcase of the technological prowess of the Koreans.
In 2019 we won’t see a lot of product news, except for a next generation SsangYong Korando (of which an all-electric version is planned) and perhaps MG will bring the HS to its UK dealers.
| Compact SUV segment | 2019-Q1 | 2018-Q1 | Change | |
| 1 | Nissan Qashqai | 61.440 | 74.804 | -18% |
| 2 | Volkswagen Tiguan (est.) | 56.698 | 58.784 | -4% |
| 3 | Peugeot 3008 | 54.248 | 54.147 | 0% |
| 4 | Toyota C-HR | 37.268 | 33.011 | 13% |
| 5 | Ford Kuga | 36.346 | 46.020 | -21% |
| 6 | Hyundai Tucson | 34.212 | 38.053 | -10% |
| 7 | Kia Sportage | 30.857 | 34.948 | -12% |
| 8 | Renault Kadjar | 26.796 | 27.891 | -4% |
| 9 | Skoda Karoq | 25.431 | 15.907 | 60% |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X | 24.197 | 18.357 | 32% |
| 11 | Seat Ateca | 21.975 | 18.619 | 18% |
| 12 | Jeep Compass | 19.999 | 18.413 | 9% |
| 13 | Mazda CX-5 | 18.020 | 21.124 | -15% |
| 14 | Citroën C5 Aircross | 13.036 | 0 | New |
| 15 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 9.232 | 7.057 | 31% |
| 16 | Subaru XV | 3.034 | 3.531 | -14% |
| 17 | Jeep Wrangler | 2.012 | 863 | 133% |
| 18 | SsangYong Korando | 724 | 798 | -9% |
| 19 | MG GS | 247 | 272 | -9% |
| 20 | DR4 | 211 | 75 | 181% |
| 21 | DR5 | 105 | 58 | 81% |
| 22 | Hyundai Nexo | 55 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| Segment total | 476.143 | 472.974 | 1% |
Midsized SUV segment
The midsized crossover segment has been growing at lightning speed in recent years due to an influx of new players to the class. However, this growth has stalled in the first quarter of 2019 with a decline in deliveries of 11% to just over 100.000 units. The main victim (or culprit) of this downfall is the Renault-Nissan Group as the former #2 of the segment segment (in 2016 and 2017) Nissan X-Trail loses two thirds of its volume as the brand was unprepared for the WLTP standards and had to stop sales of some versions. Its platform sibling Renault Koleos is down by almost half and will be updated later this year. This leaves the X-Trail in 7th place and the Koleos in 9th, with a combined 8,4% share of the segment, compared to 19,2% in Q1 of 2018. The top-3 is turned upside down from 2018, with the Skoda Kodiaq taking the top spot while the former leader Peugeot 5008 is relegated to third place with a loss of 18%. The Toyota RAV4 maintains its #2 spot as the new generation has arrived in showrooms. Big winner in the segment is the Mitsubishi Outlander, thanks to its PHEV version which has a take rate of 74% as plug-in hybrids are due for a comeback. The Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace is down 4% and distances the Honda CR-V, down 14% as the new generation is still gaining traction. The hybrid version of that model should help it reach new heights in terms of sales. The Seat Tarraco arrived in the first quarter and hasn’t shown its true potential yet, but considering it’s a poorly disguised but cheaper copy of the Tiguan Allspace but without the VW logo, it should be able to reach about half of that model’s sales.
| Midsized SUV segment | 2019-Q1 | 2018-Q1 | Change | |
| 1 | Skoda Kodiaq | 19.936 | 19.215 | 4% |
| 2 | Toyota RAV4 | 18.850 | 19.573 | -4% |
| 3 | Peugeot 5008 | 17.504 | 21.350 | -18% |
| 4 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 13.182 | 9.235 | 43% |
| 5 | Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace (est.) | 10.005 | 10.374 | -4% |
| 6 | Honda CR-V | 8.868 | 10.349 | -14% |
| 7 | Nissan X-Trail | 5.500 | 16.464 | -67% |
| 8 | Seat Tarraco | 3.207 | 0 | New |
| 9 | Renault Koleos | 3.203 | 5.760 | -44% |
| 10 | Subaru Forester | 2.293 | 2.702 | -15% |
| 11 | Jeep Cherokee | 1.001 | 775 | 29% |
| 12 | Mahindra XUV500 | 72 | 95 | -24% |
| Segment total | 103.621 | 115.894 | -11% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2018 and monthly sales from 2015 to 2018, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site.
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.