In the first half of 2021, large SUVs are up 34% and continue to gain share in Europe, outperforming the overall market up 26%. They now make up 2.9% of the total European car market, from 2.7% in the same period of last year. The share of luxury brands in this class slightly drops to 83%, from 86.2% in the first six months of 2020 and 84.4% in all of 2020. When compared to the first half of 2019, the large SUV segment is actually the only class in Europe to show an increase, as sales are up 15% in a market down 22%.
The top-5 positions are all luxury brands with the BMW X5 in a commanding lead with sales up 35% while its nearest rival Mercedes-Benz GLE is up by just over half that figure at +18%. The Audi e-Tron is up 22% and holds on to its podium position despite being outsold in Q2 by the Volvo XC90, up 36% on last year. The Range Rover Sport is back up into fifth place, followed by the Kia Sorento which is boosted by the new generation and its hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. That knocks the Volkswagen Touareg down 2 notches from its Q1 position into 7th, as in the second quarter the largest VW was also outsold by the Land Rover Defender and three of its siblings by Audi and Porsche. The Cayenne jumps ahead of the Audi Q7 as well while the Audi Q8 distances its rivals BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. The Hyundai Santa Fe also grows its share of the segment and moves into 14th place, maintaining a comfortable lead over its newly launched rival Toyota Highlander in 18th place. Despite nearing the end of its life cycle, the Range Rover is up 21% in 15th place while keeping its advantage over the BMW X7 (#20, +13%) and Mercedes-Benz GLS (#23, -7%).
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is on track to beat its annual sales record of 2019 thanks to sales up 35% on 2020. The Land Rover Discovery and Lexus RX lose market share and so does the Toyota Land Cruiser with sales up 10%. The Ford Explorer celebrates the first anniversary of its launch in Europe as the best seller among US brands in 22nd place, well ahead of the Tesla Model X (#29, -84%) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee (#30, -88%), the latter of which will be renewed later this year. In the ultra-luxury SUV subsegment, the Maserati Levante (#24, +42%) stays ahead of the Lamborghini Urus (#25, +43%) and the Bentley Bentayga (#26, +38%), while newcomer Aston Martin DBX is still in ramp-up mode at #28 but ahead of the Rolls Royce Cullinan at #31, down 3% on last year.
We welcome the Chinese Nio ES8 in Europe with its first 2 deliveries ahead of its official launch later this year, initially only in Norway.
| Large SUV segment | 2021-H1 | 2020-H1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | BMW X5 | 23.257 | 17.224 | 35% | 12,6% | 12,5% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz GLE | 19.988 | 16.988 | 18% | 10,8% | 12,4% |
| 3 | Audi e-Tron | 15.623 | 12.806 | 22% | 8,5% | 9,3% |
| 4 | Volvo XC90 | 15.329 | 11.292 | 36% | 8,3% | 8,2% |
| 5 | Range Rover Sport | 11.131 | 8.614 | 29% | 6,0% | 6,3% |
| 6 | Kia Sorento | 8.870 | 2.101 | 322% | 4,8% | 1,5% |
| 7 | Volkswagen Touareg | 8.633 | 6.807 | 27% | 4,7% | 4,9% |
| 8 | Porsche Cayenne | 8.513 | 8.470 | 1% | 4,6% | 6,2% |
| 9 | Audi Q7 | 8.492 | 7.863 | 8% | 4,6% | 5,7% |
| 10 | Land Rover Defender | 8.250 | 1.968 | 319% | 4,5% | 1,4% |
| 11 | Audi Q8 | 7.810 | 5.838 | 34% | 4,2% | 4,2% |
| 12 | BMW X6 | 5.639 | 4.413 | 28% | 3,1% | 3,2% |
| 13 | Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe | 5.540 | 993 | 458% | 3,0% | 0,7% |
| 14 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 4.791 | 3.261 | 47% | 2,6% | 2,4% |
| 15 | Range Rover | 4.651 | 3.834 | 21% | 2,5% | 2,8% |
| 16 | Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 4.420 | 3.273 | 35% | 2,4% | 2,4% |
| 17 | Land Rover Discovery | 3.432 | 3.250 | 6% | 1,9% | 2,4% |
| 18 | Toyota Highlander | 3.161 | 0 | New | 1,7% | 0,0% |
| 19 | Lexus RX | 2.881 | 2.647 | 9% | 1,6% | 1,9% |
| 20 | BMW X7 | 2.853 | 2.527 | 13% | 1,5% | 1,8% |
| 21 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 2.572 | 2.332 | 10% | 1,4% | 1,7% |
| 22 | Ford Explorer | 2.506 | 462 | 442% | 1,4% | 0,3% |
| 23 | Mercedes-Benz GLS | 2.227 | 2.395 | -7% | 1,2% | 1,7% |
| 24 | Maserati Levante | 1.251 | 881 | 42% | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 25 | Lamborghini Urus | 727 | 509 | 43% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 26 | Bentley Bentayga | 513 | 371 | 38% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 27 | SsangYong Rexton | 434 | 176 | 147% | 0,2% | 0,1% |
| 28 | Aston Martin DBX | 374 | 0 | New | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 29 | Tesla Model X | 363 | 2.291 | -84% | 0,2% | 1,7% |
| 30 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 248 | 2.015 | -88% | 0,1% | 1,5% |
| 31 | Rolls Royce Cullinan | 144 | 147 | -2% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 32 | Ford Edge | 139 | 1.774 | -92% | 0,1% | 1,3% |
| 33 | Nio ES8 | 2 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 184.764 | 137.522 | 34% |
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.