The large SUV segment continues to gain share in Europe, outperforming the overall market thanks to sales down 7% in the first three quarters of 2020, and now make up 2.6% of the total European car market, from 2% in the same period of 2019. Total segment sales so far this year are just over 223,000 units, of which 88.6% are from luxury brands, up from 80.5% last year.
The BMW X5 remains the class leader and in Q3 it distances the Mercedes-Benz GLE which was the winner in the second quarter. These two are the only nameplates in the class above 10% share. The Audi e-Tron continues to improve, reaching almost 20,000 sales so far this year and pulling away from the Volvo XC90 to secure its podium finish for the year. The Porsche Cayenne leapfrogs the Range Rover Sport for 5th place, and the Audi Q7 also closed the gap to the British SUV. Its sporty sibling Audi Q8 stays ahead of the BMW X6 and even outsold the Volkswagen Touareg in Q3. The Touareg is the worst performer in the top-20 this year with sales down 46%, while the X6 is the best performer thanks to the new generation. The all-new Land Rover Defender jumps to 14th place YTD and was #11 in Q3, just 2 sales behind the X6. That means it looks set to finish the year ahead of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the other modernized interpretation of a long-lasting SUV. The Defender is also about to move past the Land Rover Discovery in Q4.
The BMW X7 closes in on the Lexus RX but remains behind the Range Rover and ahead of the Mercedes-Benz GLS. The Jeep Grand Cherokee slightly recovers from its -46% after Q2 with a 14th place in Q3 to move up 2 places. Ford has launched the Explorer PHEV in Europe this year, but the Edge has lost 64% of its sales, and as a result total Ford brand sales in the large SUV segment are still down 42%. In the uber-luxury SUV segment, the Bentley Bentayga outsold the Lamborghini Urus in Q3. VW Group’s share of the large SUV class is up from 28% to 30.4% compared to BMW Group’s 18.2%, Daimler’s 16.8%, and Tata Motors’s 13.4%.
| Large SUV segment | 2020 Q1-Q3 | 2019 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | 2020-Q3 | |
| 1 | BMW X5 | 28.488 | 31.527 | -10% | 12,8% | 13,1% | 11.264 |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz GLE | 26.238 | 15.248 | 72% | 11,8% | 6,3% | 9.250 |
| 3 | Audi e-Tron | 19.997 | 10.979 | 82% | 9,0% | 4,6% | 7.191 |
| 4 | Volvo XC90 | 16.852 | 21.519 | -22% | 7,6% | 9,0% | 5.560 |
| 5 | Porsche Cayenne | 13.677 | 10.521 | 30% | 6,1% | 4,4% | 5.207 |
| 6 | Range Rover Sport | 13.214 | 21.157 | -38% | 5,9% | 8,8% | 4.600 |
| 7 | Audi Q7 | 13.006 | 12.185 | 7% | 5,8% | 5,1% | 5.143 |
| 8 | Volkswagen Touareg | 10.113 | 18.786 | -46% | 4,5% | 7,8% | 3.306 |
| 9 | Audi Q8 | 9.498 | 13.438 | -29% | 4,3% | 5,6% | 3.660 |
| 10 | BMW X6 | 7.641 | 3.402 | 125% | 3,4% | 1,4% | 3.228 |
| 11 | Range Rover | 5.902 | 9.465 | -38% | 2,6% | 3,9% | 2.068 |
| 12 | Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 5.514 | 6.787 | -19% | 2,5% | 2,8% | 2.241 |
| 13 | Land Rover Discovery | 5.480 | 7.488 | -27% | 2,5% | 3,1% | 2.230 |
| 14 | Land Rover Defender | 5.194 | 1 | New | 2,3% | 0,0% | 3.226 |
| 15 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 5.124 | 6.978 | -27% | 2,3% | 2,9% | 1.863 |
| 16 | Lexus RX | 4.167 | 5.082 | -18% | 1,9% | 2,1% | 1.520 |
| 17 | BMW X7 | 4.164 | 3.086 | 35% | 1,9% | 1,3% | 1.637 |
| 18 | Tesla Model X | 4.132 | 5.965 | -31% | 1,9% | 2,5% | 1.841 |
| 19 | Jeep Grand Cherokee | 4.100 | 5.708 | -28% | 1,8% | 2,4% | 2.085 |
| 20 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 3.601 | 4.758 | -24% | 1,6% | 2,0% | 1.269 |
| 21 | Mercedes-Benz GLS | 3.587 | 1.613 | 122% | 1,6% | 0,7% | 1.192 |
| 22 | Kia Sorento | 3.558 | 6.959 | -49% | 1,6% | 2,9% | 1.457 |
| 23 | Ford Edge | 2.490 | 6.940 | -64% | 1,1% | 2,9% | 716 |
| 24 | Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe | 2.180 | 3.861 | -44% | 1,0% | 1,6% | 1.187 |
| 25 | Ford Explorer | 1.538 | 0 | New | 0,7% | 0,0% | 1.076 |
| 26 | Maserati Levante | 1.497 | 2.512 | -40% | 0,7% | 1,0% | 616 |
| 27 | Lamborghini Urus | 790 | 792 | 0% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 281 |
| 28 | Bentley Bentayga | 734 | 637 | 15% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 363 |
| 29 | SsangYong Rexton | 290 | 1.534 | -81% | 0,1% | 0,6% | 114 |
| 30 | Rolls Royce Cullinan | 209 | 270 | -23% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 62 |
| 31 | Mitsubishi Pajero Sport | 80 | 425 | -81% | 0,0% | 0,2% | 30 |
| 32 | Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero / Shogun | 75 | 515 | -85% | 0,0% | 0,2% | 2 |
| 33 | Infiniti QX70 | 0 | 23 | -100% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 |
| Segment total | 223.130 | 240.161 | -7% |
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.