Sales of compact crossovers continue to surge in Europe, with a 15% gain in 2018 to over 1,7 million sales or 11,1% of the overall market, up from 9,6% in 2017 and 7,7% in 2016. Most of the growth comes from newly launched or very recent models. We’ve decided to separate the tables of the compact and midsized crossover segments but still feature them in one post and in one graph as the models in these classes are so close to each other in size and there are so many different opinions on which models belong in which of these segments. Combined, sales in these segments are up 15% to 13,7% of the total European car market, and VW Group and Renault-Nissan each control 22% and PSA another 17% of these segments combined, for a whopping 61% share by just three manufacturers. The Nissan Qashqai is still the best selling crossover in Europe, despite losing 7% on its record volume of 2017. Its closest rival is still the Volkswagen Tiguan, down 9% although its figures are estimates, as we don’t have official split figures from the 7-seater Tiguan Allspace and we estimate a 15% take rate for that version, which is featured in the midsized crossover segment. The Peugeot 3008 continues its impressive run and also crosses the 200.000 sales threshold thanks to a 20% increase on last year. When combining these segments, the 3008/5008 duo would be on top of the charts, just ahead of the Qashqai/X-Trail, with the Tiguan trailing at a distance. By any standard an impressive performance from the French brand, and we’re curious to see how the all-new Citroën C5 Aircross will perform once its deliveries start to show its true potential.
US car sales analysis 2018 – Compact SUV segment
Jeep models shine as segment tops 3.5 million and double-digit sales growth continues unabated
Sales in the US Compact SUV segment rose by 12.6% to 3,557,102 in 2018, making it by far the largest segment in the US, some 50% larger than the second largest segment (Large Pickup). What’s more, despite its size it still recorded the fourth-fastest growth rate in 2018, and was the only segment with total sales over 1 million to record [Read more…]
US car sales analysis 2018 Q2 – Compact SUV segment
Segment growth continues unabated as new Jeep models and Subaru Crosstrek star
Sales in the US Compact SUV segment rose by 18.0% to 1,792,752 in the first half of 2018, with sales growth accelerating slightly in the second quarter of the year, relative to the first. With the new Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester going on sales soon, and the new Ford Escape about to make its debut, the good times are sure to keep rolling for [Read more…]
US car sales analysis Q1 2018 – Compact SUV segment
The dominance of the Compact SUV segment extends as sales grow by 17%
Sales in the US Compact SUV segment rose by 17.1% to 850,324 in the first quarter of 2018, a considerably faster rate of growth than the 4.6% recorded in 2017 overall. With a ton of new or facelifted models having made their debuts in the market over the past 12 months this is hardly unexpected, but still serves to underscore the love [Read more…]
New York Auto Show 2018: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly [w/ poll]
Cadillac XT4
Bart: so-so
The XT4 is Cadillac’s first entry in the compact SUV segment to rival the BMW X1, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Audi Q3. Its larger sibling XT5 is the leader of its class, and of course the brand aims to beat the Germans in this segment too. However, I think Cadillac could have done a better job at giving the XT4 a more distinctive look, as it now [Read more…]
Opinion: does the D-pillar “side-line” add to or detract from car design? [w/ poll]
As the 2018 New York Auto Show develops two recent trends have come to the fore: the D-pillar “side-line” and the move towards free-standing infotainment screens. Here, we’ll look at the former, evident in new cars such as Acura RDX, Nissan Altima and Toyota RAV4. Clearly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone will have their own [Read more…]
European sales 2017 compact & midsized crossover segments
Sales of compact crossovers continue to surge in Europe, with a 30% gain in 2017 to nearly 1,5 million sales or 9,6% of the overall market, up from 7,7% in 2016. The entire top-5 has set new sales records in 2017. We’ve decided to separate the tables of the compact and midsized crossover segments but still feature them in one post and in one graph as the models in these classes are so close to each other in size and there are so many different opinions on which models belong in which of these segments. Combined, sales in these segments are up 32% to 11,9% of the total European car market, of which Renault-Nissan controls 26% and VW Group 20%. The Nissan Qashqai is still the best selling crossover in Europe, despite adding just 6% to its record volume of 2016 to close in on a quarter million sales. Its closest rival is still the Volkswagen Tiguan, up 31% to become the second nameplate in this segment to top 200.000 sales and to close the gap with the top spot to less than 14.000 sales. The new Peugeot 3008 immediately jumps onto the segment podium with nearly 170.000 sales in its first full year, an impressive performance against any standard. It beats the two South-Korean rivals that have fought for the segment podium for years as well as the Ford Kuga which shows an impressive 27% growth despite being 5 years old already, apart from a facelift in 2016.
US car sales analysis 2017 Q4 – Hybrid green cars
Growing demand for hybrid versions of conventional models helps segment grow despite collapse in Prius sales
Sales of hybrid vehicles rose by 2.6% to 90,377 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 rose by 12.4% to 368,137. Hybrid vehicles remain the most popular from among the three types of green cars by far, selling more than double the volume of the other two types: PHEV and EV. Perhaps unsurprisingly given its size, the growth [Read more…]
US car sales analysis Q4 2017 – Compact SUV segment
The largest segment got larger, while new cars are outperformed by established segment players
Sales in the US compact SUV segment, the largest of all segments, rose by 5.8% to 806,341 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall in 2017 sales in the segment grew by 4.6% to 3,159,468. What’s more, there seems to be no end in sight for this bonanza – not only did 2017 see a ton of new models debut in the market (Honda CR-V, [Read more…]
European sales 2017 Q1-Q3 compact & midsized crossover segments
The growth of the compact crossover segment in Europe slows down slightly in Q3 of 2017, but it’s still the second-fastest growing mainstream segment at +25% in the third quarter and +32% year-to-date. Almost 1,13 million compact crossovers have already been sold so far this year, virtually the same number as the small crossover segment whose growth curve has flattened. The Nissan Qashqai still tops the ranking and continues to win sales, but it’s losing share of the segment as it increased by just 8% both in Q3 and YTD. Its main rival Volkswagen Tiguan gained just 4% in the third quarter, as the new generation had just reached its full potential in the same period last year. Behind these two leaders, three players are having a pretty close race, selling within 2.000 units of each other in the third quarter. The Peugeot 3008 holds the final step of the segment podium and behind it, the Hyundai Tucson feels the Ford Kuga breathing down its neck in the third quarter as the Ford improves 11% while the Tucson sees stable sales. This top-5 holds almost two thirds of the segment with the rest of the top-10 holding nearly the other third as the remaining models make up just 2,6% of the segment. [Read more…]
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