In the first quarter of 2021, large SUVs continue to gain share in Europe, outperforming the stable overall market thanks to sales up 9%. 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 83.3%, from 86% in Q1 of 2020 and 84.4% in all of 2020.
The top-4 position remain unchanged from the 2020 full-year ranking, with the BMW X5 maintaining its position on top of the ranking with sales up 16%. However, its leadership is under threat from the Mercedes-Benz GLE which is up 18% and fewer than 120 deliveries behind its rival. The all-electric Audi e-Tron, even with the Sportback version included, is down 6% on last year but holds on to its podium position. The Volvo XC90 is up 12% , while the Volkswagen Touareg moves past its platform siblings Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, thanks to sales up 13% for the former and down 10% and 19% respectively for its premium siblings. The fourth sibling Audi Q8 is up 11% into 8th plase. The new generation Kia Sorento is up 164% and enters the top-10, just ahead of the Land Rover Defender. The Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe has also been renewed and is up sevenfold to outsell its rival BMW X6 (+21%) by 15 deliveries. Big loser in the top-20 is the Range Rover Sport, down 58% and into 13th place, just ahead of its sibling Range Rover, down just 3%. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is up by one third into 15th place. The Sorento’s sibling Hyundai Santa Fe is down 17% just when it’s updated with the addition of hybrid and PHEV versions.
The Lexus RX is down 4% and the Land Rover Discovery is down 41% to drop to 18th place. The BMW X7 is up 8% and outsells the Mercedes-Benz GLS, down 30%. The Toyota Highlander hybrid arrives and outsells the Ford Explorer PHEV but can’t yet match its traditional sibling Land Cruiser which is up 22%. Biggest loser off the class is the Tesla Model X at -79%. Among upper luxury SUVs, the Maserati Levante is up 25%, the Lamborghini Urus is up 9% and the Bentley Bentayga is up 10%. The Aston Martin DBX lands at #28 with 214 deliveries, while the Rolls Royce Cullinan is down 28% to 76 deliveries. We also welcome the Genesis GV80 with its first 6 deliveries on European soil.
| Large SUV segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | BMW X5 | 11.360 | 9.810 | 16% | 12,9% | 12,2% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz GLE | 11.243 | 9.562 | 18% | 12,8% | 11,8% |
| 3 | Audi e-Tron | 7.508 | 7.987 | -6% | 8,5% | 9,9% |
| 4 | Volvo XC90 | 7.166 | 6.418 | 12% | 8,1% | 8,0% |
| 5 | Volkswagen Touareg | 4.904 | 4.335 | 13% | 5,6% | 5,4% |
| 6 | Audi Q7 | 4.586 | 5.085 | -10% | 5,2% | 6,3% |
| 7 | Porsche Cayenne | 4.020 | 4.966 | -19% | 4,6% | 6,2% |
| 8 | Audi Q8 | 3.884 | 3.510 | 11% | 4,4% | 4,3% |
| 9 | Kia Sorento | 3.816 | 1.444 | 164% | 4,3% | 1,8% |
| 10 | Land Rover Defender | 3.723 | 307 | 1113% | 4,2% | 0,4% |
| 11 | Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe | 2.785 | 399 | 598% | 3,2% | 0,5% |
| 12 | BMW X6 | 2.770 | 2.297 | 21% | 3,1% | 2,8% |
| 13 | Range Rover Sport | 2.417 | 5.799 | -58% | 2,7% | 7,2% |
| 14 | Range Rover | 2.417 | 2.499 | -3% | 2,7% | 3,1% |
| 15 | Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 2.341 | 1.759 | 33% | 2,7% | 2,2% |
| 16 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 1.660 | 1.991 | -17% | 1,9% | 2,5% |
| 17 | Lexus RX | 1.466 | 1.527 | -4% | 1,7% | 1,9% |
| 18 | Land Rover Discovery | 1.443 | 2.451 | -41% | 1,6% | 3,0% |
| 19 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 1.406 | 1.157 | 22% | 1,6% | 1,4% |
| 20 | BMW X7 | 1.366 | 1.268 | 8% | 1,6% | 1,6% |
| 21 | Toyota Highlander | 1.364 | 0 | New | 1,6% | 0,0% |
| 22 | Ford Explorer | 1.183 | 138 | 757% | 1,3% | 0,2% |
| 23 | Mercedes-Benz GLS | 954 | 1.359 | -30% | 1,1% | 1,7% |
| 24 | Maserati Levante | 653 | 521 | 25% | 0,7% | 0,6% |
| 25 | Lamborghini Urus | 342 | 313 | 9% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 26 | Bentley Bentayga | 274 | 250 | 10% | 0,3% | 0,3% |
| 27 | Tesla Model X | 263 | 1.227 | -79% | 0,3% | 1,5% |
| 28 | Aston Martin DBX | 214 | 0 | New | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 29 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 165 | 970 | -83% | 0,2% | 1,2% |
| 30 | SsangYong Rexton | 132 | 120 | 10% | 0,2% | 0,1% |
| 31 | Ford Edge | 86 | 1.032 | -92% | 0,1% | 1,3% |
| 32 | Rolls Royce Cullinan | 76 | 106 | -28% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 33 | Genesis GV80 | 6 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 87.993 | 80.710 | 9% |
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.