The midsized sedan (and station wagon) segment is losing ground in Europe just as it is across the Atlantic. In Q4 of 2016 sales were down 10% to end the year barely in the black: up just 1% from 2015 to 625.185 sales. In the last quarter, 7 models in the top-10 lost volume and all did so with double digits. The Volkswagen Passat holds on to its dominant lead but loses 3,4 percentage points of share compared to 2015 while its sibling Skoda Superb surges 70% to take 2nd place, which means Volkswagen Group still grows its share of the segment to almost 47%. The traditional podium fighters Opel/Vauxhall Insignia and Ford Mondeo are kicked down to fight for 3rd and 4th place. The Insignia holds on to its podium spot for the year, but in Q4 the Mondeo sold 600 units more than its rival which will be replaced by a new generation in 2017. However, there’s a new challenger on the block: In December the Renault Talisman outsold both of them to claim the segment 3rd place. With the Insignia weakened due to the model change and the current Mondeo having never struck a chord with European buyers, the Talisman should have a shot at the podium in the first half of the year, although the Insignia will strike back when the new generation has launched, helped by its popularity in the UK market where the Renault is absent.
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 fourth quarter surge of the Talisman was not enough to move past the Peugeot 508 and Toyota Avensis, the latter of which finished the year slightly in the plus thanks to its facelift earlier this year, but it was already down again in Q4. The Mazda6 has fallen prey to the surging Renault and drops to 8th place with sales down 4% for the year after being in the positive until the third quarter. At the bottom end of the top-10, the Hyundai i40 is the biggest loser of the segment top-10 at -19% for the year and -36% for the quarter. However, these losses are offset by its sibling Kia Optima which almost triples its volume thanks to the new Sportswagon version and Plug-in hybrid version. As a result of this long-awaited but still relatively modest success for the Optima, the aging Citroën C5 is kicked out of the segment top-10, losing almost a third of its volume.
The i40 and C5 are expected not to be replaced after the current generations reach the end of their life cycle, similar to the Avensis, simply because this segment is stagnating as buyers are shifting towards the premium brands and crossovers. This is also reflected in the product news for 2017: besides the all-new Insignia, only the Mondeo will receive a facelift, while all models currently outside the top-13 have already been killed off.
Also check out the midsized car segment in the US, where the #5 Chevrolet Malibu is the only model in the top-6 to add volume.
| Midsized segment | 2016 | 2015 | Change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Passat | 206.813 | 226.127 | -9% |
| 2 | Skoda Superb | 85.879 | 50.533 | 70% |
| 3 | Opel/Vauxhall Insignia | 73.161 | 88.544 | -17% |
| 4 | Ford Mondeo | 70.900 | 79.673 | -11% |
| 5 | Peugeot 508 | 37.104 | 43.301 | -14% |
| 6 | Toyota Avensis | 34.998 | 33.197 | 5% |
| 7 | Renault Talisman | 34.344 | 1.824 | 1783% |
| 8 | Mazda6 | 29.226 | 30.519 | -4% |
| 9 | Hyundai i40 | 20.253 | 25.045 | -19% |
| 10 | Kia Optima | 9.515 | 3.263 | 192% |
| 11 | Citroën C5 | 9.464 | 13.480 | -30% |
| 12 | Subaru Legacy / Outback | 8.242 | 10.806 | -24% |
| 13 | Subaru Levorg | 4.689 | 2.437 | 92% |
| 14 | MG6 | 366 | 548 | -33% |
| 15 | Renault Laguna | 134 | 7.831 | -98% |
| 16 | Honda Accord | 49 | 1.918 | -97% |
| 17 | Opel/Vauxhall Ampera | 40 | 300 | -87% |
| 18 | Chevrolet Malibu | 6 | 6 | 0% |
| 19 | Seat Exeo | 2 | 7 | -71% |
| Segment total | 625.185 | 619.404 | 1% |
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.
ToJa says
Talisman was barely available in first Half. Station wagon was introduced in Q4. So… interresting if Talisman can reach sales about 70, 80k in 2017.
Mondeo is absolutely a failure. Previous model was so much better.
Insignia will surely strike. It’s a typical corporate car.
Bazooka says
Talisman 70,80k in 2017? Lol what a joke 🙂
ToJa says
I don’t believe in Mondeo FL. This model was designed for US and is not very Europe-oriented. Especially interior, huge step back comparing previous generation (quality). it is also much lauder and driver worse than previous. And it’s sales are much lover than previous generation.
FL won’t help in this situation. But let’s see…
Fokker says
I still dont understand why Ford has been waiting for so long before it introduced this car in Europe, while it has been available in US for so few years already as a Fusion. Hybrid Mondeo is a great car, though.
Bazooka says
There’ll be a face lifting for Mondeo in just few weeks. Hot Mondeo st (more than 300 hp) is comming…
Pedro says
The mondeo was delayed because they had problems setting up the factory for its production in Europe.
Great numbers by the Talisman. It was also a huge success in South Korea where it is rebadged as the Samsung SM6.
The Superb really impressed and the sales performance are a good indicator while the Passat is perhaps too boring, conservative and doesn’t show such a big improvement from the previous generation so its sales fell.
Losange says
Mazda6 truly deserves better sales, but its quality is probably too much for the average European compared with the overestimated Passat, Superb and Mondeo (terrible interior quality like the EcoSport).
ToJa says
Superb and Mondeo are typical corpo sales. The interior quality is not a parameter for them. Size, price, service costs, leasing options are more important. Private buyers (there are not so many of them) choose either Passat (conservationists) either more sexy models (Mazda, Optima, Talisman) or go for premium (German trio).
This is sad that private buyer choose SUV these days.
Besides Passat sales of any other model in this segment is a shame.
Losange says
All models in this segment are corporate cars, but why do you think Passat is number one with great distance? Because 60% of all Passats on the road in the five biggest European markets are corporate sales according to fleet market specialist Dataforce. This is one of the many examples of the artifical European car market.
Fokker says
Both Mazda6 and Optima deserve way better sales to be frank. Also I wonder when Citroen is going to finally pull the plug on C5, its sales are a joke at this point.
Martin C says
Talking about poor interior quality. Just try the plastic nightmare of the Talisman. It’s so tragic. A shake test of the center console almost takes it all apart! And the very hyped LED headlights are so inferior to the ones on the Seat Ateca. I don’t understand how Mercedes could sign off quality on it.
xx_yy_zz says
If we look at this: http://carsalesbase.com/us-sales-2016-mid-sized-segment/ , we will see that the Mazda6 isn’t one of the best selling mid-sized cars in the USA neither. So maybe it isn’t so great, when it’s judged by the buyers.
xx_yy_zz says
I mean it must be great (the Mazda6), all the reviewars can’t be wrong, but that greatness doesn’t match with the things that make most of the potential buyers think it’s great.
Fokker says
If we’d take out fleet sales then probably Mazda6 would be a bit higher on the list. Also afterall its a car from relatively small company in a sharply declining segment.
Richard says
The Insignia’s position is remarkable considering its age. I contend it is a very likeable car indeed. I love its appearance and comes with some excellent trim options. Why has no one opted to offer more variety in personalisation in this class? That’s a puzzle.
Rick M says
Anyone noticed what the Chinese PSA design outfit has done to that ancient C5?? AMAZING facelift!!
Rick M says
It’s the Talisman Laurens van den Acker is most proud of. I can see why.
And no, the centre console doesn’t fall apart, despite a funny comment in this section.
If the S-Korean Talisman sales would be added to the EU’s, the model easily reached …. 80K.
Which underlines the amazing reception the TLSM/SM6 received in that country.
Having said this, I am afraid the Talisman will struggle in 2017 to surpass it’s first year number.
The market is unforgiven.
ToJa says
I think Talisman will easily beat 2016 results. January 2017 is already over 100% better than January 2016.
It is because Talisman started to be fully available in Q3 2016. So I expect full year result about 40-50k.
Pedro says
This segment will facce sharp decline because buyers are moving to compact crossovers. Sales will be mostly corporate in this segment.
rü says
Avarage figures by talisman. Doubt they will make it to 70k in 2017. Just looks sad when I look at Laguna figures, they missplayed big time with the 07 model, instead they should have made 10 model earlier. IMO the insigina, laguna, 508 and the mazda 6 is nice cars :D.
rü says
Ofcourse the saab 9-3 and 9.5 is legends to me 😀
Martin C says
Next time I’m at Viabiler, I’ll tape the shaketest, same shaketest done by Autogefühl, and it really is bad interior quality, and yes. At shakes so violently, the feling is, it all falls apart. The same test in BMW shows, it’s rocket steady. You can’t move the centerconsole like in the Talisman. Sorry. It’s the truth.
rû says
can you link the shaketest of talisman. 😀
Martin C says
It’s right here:
At 15:00: That is really cheap.