Large SUVs are just a small part of the European market, making up just 0,36% of the industry, but at +16% in 2016, it grows faster than the overall market at +6,2%. Across the Atlantic, these vehicles make up 10,3% of the US market as Americans buy 33 times more of these SUVs than Europeans do. And every single model in the US midsized (yes, they have an even bigger segment above these) crossover segment top-14 (out of 17) outsells the entire European segment combined. If in the US 3 out of the top-4 models are from domestic brands, in Europe the South-Koreans have dominated this segment for years. Thanks to sales up 10%, the Hyundai Santa Fe reclaims the segment lead from its sibling Kia Sorento, down 7% despite being two years younger (2014 vs 2012). At the end of Q3 the Sorento was still on top with a very thin margin, but the Santa outsold it in Q4 for the second straight quarter to finish the year on top. However, Hyundai-Kia has lost 7,5 percentage points of its share of the segment compared to last year, and the culprit of this loss can be found in third place.
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
The all-new Ford Edge has taken Europe by storm, relatively to the size of the segment, that is, and its third place for the full year 2016 doesn’t reflect the American model’s true performance as it was launched halfway through the year. In fact, the Edge was the segment leader in the fourth quarter, handily outselling all of its rivals and claiming an almost 30% share of the segment in Q4. It also singlehandedly helped the entire segment to a 43% increase in the last quarter, the rest of the segment was stable. A very promising start indeed, and an indication of its ambitions for 2017: finish on top of the segment. It already has two golden oldies beat: the Toyota Land Cruiser (Prado) and the Mitsubishi Pajero, which sell only a fraction of their worldwide volume in Europe. The SsangYong Rexton appears to have reached its peak at around 2.200 annual sales, and the new generation Mazda CX-9 won’t even be sold in Europe, just like Nissan is keeping the new generations Murano and Pathfinder from us.
Also check out the midsized SUV segment in the US, where the Ford Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota Highlander dominate.
| Large SUV segment | 2016 | 2015 | Change | |
| 1 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 15.937 | 14.492 | 10% |
| 2 | Kia Sorento | 15.344 | 16.539 | -7% |
| 3 | Ford Edge | 9.200 | 0 | New |
| 4 | Toyota Land Cruiser | 6.286 | 6.052 | 4% |
| 5 | Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero / Shogun | 5.590 | 5.920 | -6% |
| 6 | SsangYong Rexton | 2.187 | 2.214 | -1% |
| 7 | Mazda CX-9 | 153 | 1.057 | -86% |
| 8 | Nissan Murano | 64 | 603 | -89% |
| 9 | Nissan Pathfinder | 6 | 388 | -98% |
| Segment total | 54.783 | 47.336 | 16% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2016 and monthly sales from 2012 to 2016, 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.