European car sales were down 20% to nearly 850,000 units in February 2021, the lowest February volume since 2013, as a result of COVID-19 related restrictions in many countries. Nearly all 27 EU markets were down last month, including the five major markets: Spain was the hardest-hit (-38.4%), followed by the UK (-35.5%), Germany (-19%) and Italy (-12.3%). The only European countries that showed growth on February 2020 were Sweden (+5.3%) and Norway (+3.3%).
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) lose share at -21.9% to drop to their third lowest share of the last 12 months, after last July and August at 53%. Crossover and SUV outperform at -13.2% and stay stable on January’s new record of 43% share. Meanwhile, MPV sales are down 49.1% to 4.1% share, up 0.3 percentage points on last month’s record low. Within these figures, EV and PHEV sales are up 66% year-on-year to over 115,000 deliveries for a 13.6% market share, more than double the share of February 2020 and above the 2020 total of 11%. EVs were up 27% to just over 50,000 (5.9% share), while PHEVs were up 117% to over 65,500 (7.7% share).
February 2021 Manufacturers
Volkswagen Group gains share with sales down 18.3%, making it the best performing manufacturer in the top-4. Newly formed Stellantis is down 21.8% and Renault-Nissan does even worse at -30.4% and Hyundai-Kia is down 23.1%. BMW AG drops back to fifth place despite gaining share at -14.8%. Toyota Motor als gains market share at -10%, distancing Daimler AG at -21.6% and Ford Motor Company at -23.6%. Geely Group is up 6% thanks to strong sales of Volvo, Suzuki is up 4.5% and Aston Martin is up 6.4%. The best performers however are Tesla Motors at +40.4% and SAIC at +39.5%. General Motors is up five-fold, but stills sold fewer than 50 cars in Europe last month.
| Group | feb-21 | feb-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 217.992 | 266.935 | -18,3% | 25,8% | 25,2% | 430.441 | 266.935 | 61,3% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 198.843 | 254.330 | -21,8% | 23,5% | 24,0% | 377.537 | 498.856 | -24,3% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 99.312 | 142.752 | -30,4% | 11,7% | 13,5% | 199.752 | 284.077 | -29,7% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 58.904 | 76.562 | -23,1% | 7,0% | 7,2% | 117.261 | 155.089 | -24,4% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 57.018 | 66.945 | -14,8% | 6,7% | 6,3% | 121.158 | 143.509 | -15,6% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 53.629 | 59.571 | -10,0% | 6,3% | 5,6% | 111.246 | 130.343 | -14,7% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 47.778 | 60.933 | -21,6% | 5,6% | 5,8% | 101.166 | 128.060 | -21,0% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 44.470 | 58.243 | -23,6% | 5,3% | 5,5% | 92.899 | 123.678 | -24,9% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 24.456 | 23.078 | 6,0% | 2,9% | 2,2% | 50.002 | 46.536 | 7,4% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 14.486 | 13.862 | 4,5% | 1,7% | 1,3% | 27.516 | 27.162 | 1,3% |
| 11 | Mazda | 8.882 | 11.228 | -20,9% | 1,0% | 1,1% | 17.238 | 24.312 | -29,1% |
| 12 | Tata Motors | 7.717 | 10.530 | -26,7% | 0,9% | 1,0% | 16.101 | 28.087 | -42,7% |
| 13 | Tesla Motors | 5.523 | 3.933 | 40,4% | 0,7% | 0,4% | 7.220 | 6.002 | 20,3% |
| 14 | Honda | 3.378 | 6.623 | -49,0% | 0,4% | 0,6% | 6.912 | 14.752 | -53,1% |
| 15 | SAIC | 1.421 | 1.019 | 39,5% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 3.442 | 2.890 | 19,1% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.381 | 1.582 | -12,7% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 2.425 | 3.150 | -23,0% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 674 | 929 | -27,4% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 1.375 | 1.880 | -26,9% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 83 | 78 | 6,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 221 | 243 | -9,1% |
| 19 | General Motors | 49 | 10 | 390,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 89 | 26 | 242,3% |
February 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen struggles after scoring big in December. It is narrowly beaten by the market while the next two rivals gain market share: Peugeot is down 13.3% while holding on to second place and Toyota is the best performing brand in the top-15 with sales down 8.6%. The Japanese brand celebrates a second consecutive month on the podium, after doing it for the first time ever in January. Renault moves up two spots on last month into fourth place, but is down 32.2% year-on-year. Skoda is up three spots on last month to score a fifth place, its second best ever after last April’s fourth place. BMW beats Mercedes-Benz for the second month in a row, something it only did once in 2020: in April. Ford continues to strugglebut stays ahead of Audi which beats the market, while Citroën closes the top-10.
Fiat and Opel/Vauxhall lose market share, and so do Kia, Seat and Hyundai, while Dacia outperforms and Volvo sells 120 more cars than last year. Nissan is once again the biggest loser in the top-25 at -33.3%, while Suzuki is closing in, up 4.5%. Jeep and Porsche also do relatively well at -5.1% and -5.4% respectively, but Mitsubishi (-61.1%), Honda (-49%), DS (-47.1%), Alfa Romeo (-43.4%) and Jaguar (-49.5%) are facing difficult times and are all outsold by Tesla, up 40.4%. Smart also does well compared to February 2020 at +68.6%, but that’s because it had a slow start of last year. MG is up 37.5%, DR Motor is up 152.2%, Ferrari is up 19.5% and Alpine is up 45.9%. Genesis improves on its introduction month to 35 sales, already ahead of Cadillac.
| Brand | feb-21 | feb-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD rank | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 93.942 | 118.290 | -20,6% | 11,1% | 11,2% | 1 | 184.485 | 1.206.939 | -84,7% |
| 2 | Peugeot | 66.362 | 76.504 | -13,3% | 7,8% | 7,2% | 2 | 127.546 | 151.395 | -15,8% |
| 3 | Toyota | 50.949 | 55.753 | -8,6% | 6,0% | 5,3% | 3 | 105.259 | 121.554 | -13,4% |
| 4 | Renault | 49.761 | 73.364 | -32,2% | 5,9% | 6,9% | 5 | 98.249 | 140.572 | -30,1% |
| 5 | Skoda | 47.331 | 54.816 | -13,7% | 5,6% | 5,2% | 7 | 93.669 | 113.717 | -17,6% |
| 6 | BMW | 46.309 | 54.850 | -15,6% | 5,5% | 5,2% | 4 | 100.047 | 118.581 | -15,6% |
| 7 | Mercedes-Benz | 45.283 | 59.453 | -23,8% | 5,3% | 5,6% | 6 | 96.049 | 125.700 | -23,6% |
| 8 | Ford | 44.470 | 58.243 | -23,6% | 5,3% | 5,5% | 8 | 92.898 | 508.559 | -81,7% |
| 9 | Audi | 42.945 | 50.865 | -15,6% | 5,1% | 4,8% | 9 | 82.942 | 109.051 | -23,9% |
| 10 | Citroën | 38.858 | 50.128 | -22,5% | 4,6% | 4,7% | 10 | 71.187 | 97.479 | -27,0% |
| 11 | Fiat | 38.193 | 51.284 | -25,5% | 4,5% | 4,8% | 11 | 71.140 | 96.527 | -26,3% |
| 12 | Opel/Vauxhall | 36.180 | 49.957 | -27,6% | 4,3% | 4,7% | 12 | 70.165 | 101.052 | -30,6% |
| 13 | Kia | 30.238 | 38.795 | -22,1% | 3,6% | 3,7% | 13 | 60.468 | 77.044 | -21,5% |
| 14 | Seat | 29.045 | 37.827 | -23,2% | 3,4% | 3,6% | 14 | 58.511 | 77.534 | -24,5% |
| 15 | Hyundai | 28.631 | 37.767 | -24,2% | 3,4% | 3,6% | 15 | 56.757 | 78.045 | -27,3% |
| 16 | Dacia | 26.442 | 30.089 | -12,1% | 3,1% | 2,8% | 16 | 54.805 | 61.341 | -10,7% |
| 17 | Volvo | 23.155 | 23.031 | 0,5% | 2,7% | 2,2% | 17 | 47.358 | 46.466 | 1,9% |
| 18 | Nissan | 18.684 | 28.028 | -33,3% | 2,2% | 2,6% | 18 | 37.968 | 218.125 | -82,6% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 14.486 | 13.862 | 4,5% | 1,7% | 1,3% | 19 | 27.516 | 27.162 | 1,3% |
| 20 | Mini | 10.681 | 12.055 | -11,4% | 1,3% | 1,1% | 20 | 21.026 | 24.827 | -15,3% |
| 21 | Jeep | 10.157 | 10.704 | -5,1% | 1,2% | 1,0% | 21 | 19.431 | 21.249 | -8,6% |
| 22 | Mazda | 8.882 | 11.228 | -20,9% | 1,0% | 1,1% | 22 | 17.238 | 24.312 | -29,1% |
| 23 | Land Rover | 6.005 | 7.138 | -15,9% | 0,7% | 0,7% | 23 | 12.593 | 19.508 | -35,4% |
| 24 | Tesla | 5.523 | 3.933 | 40,4% | 0,7% | 0,4% | 27 | 7.220 | 6.002 | 20,3% |
| 25 | Porsche | 4.427 | 4.681 | -5,4% | 0,5% | 0,4% | 24 | 10.022 | 10.177 | -1,5% |
| 26 | Mitsubishi | 4.249 | 10.910 | -61,1% | 0,5% | 1,0% | 25 | 8.414 | 22.142 | -62,0% |
| 27 | Lancia | 3.868 | 5.950 | -35,0% | 0,5% | 0,6% | 26 | 7.922 | 12.204 | -35,1% |
| 28 | Honda | 3.378 | 6.623 | -49,0% | 0,4% | 0,6% | 28 | 6.912 | 14.752 | -53,1% |
| 29 | DS | 3.029 | 5.726 | -47,1% | 0,4% | 0,5% | 30 | 5.739 | 10.679 | -46,3% |
| 30 | Lexus | 2.680 | 3.818 | -29,8% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 29 | 5.987 | 8.789 | -31,9% |
| 31 | Smart | 2.495 | 1.480 | 68,6% | 0,3% | 0,1% | 31 | 5.117 | 2.360 | 116,8% |
| 32 | Alfa Romeo | 1.918 | 3.391 | -43,4% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 32 | 3.750 | 6.766 | -44,6% |
| 33 | Jaguar | 1.712 | 3.392 | -49,5% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 33 | 3.508 | 8.579 | -59,1% |
| 34 | SAIC MG | 1.401 | 1.019 | 37,5% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 34 | 3.352 | 2.890 | 16,0% |
| 35 | Subaru | 1.381 | 1.582 | -12,7% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 36 | 2.425 | 3.150 | -23,0% |
| 36 | Polestar | 1.270 | 22 | 5672,7% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 35 | 2.565 | 23 | 11052,2% |
| 37 | DR Motor | 623 | 247 | 152,2% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 38 | 1.000 | 560 | 78,6% |
| 38 | SSangYong | 612 | 770 | -20,5% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 37 | 1.257 | 1.564 | -19,6% |
| 39 | Ferrari | 300 | 251 | 19,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 | 2.930 | 592 | 394,9% |
| 40 | Maserati | 229 | 270 | -15,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 560 | 623 | -10,1% |
| 41 | Lamborghini | 146 | 200 | -27,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 330 | 380 | -13,2% |
| 42 | Bentley | 109 | 199 | -45,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 | 365 | 601 | -39,3% |
| 43 | Alpine | 89 | 61 | 45,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 166 | 128 | 29,7% |
| 44 | Lada | 87 | 234 | -62,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 149 | 450 | -66,9% |
| 45 | Aston Martin | 83 | 78 | 6,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 221 | 243 | -9,1% |
| 46 | Great Wall | 64 | 12 | 433,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 114 | 32 | 256,3% |
| 47 | Mahindra | 62 | 159 | -61,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 798 | 316 | 152,5% |
| 48 | Dodge | 42 | 77 | -45,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 81 | 136 | -40,4% |
| 49 | Genesis | 35 | #DEEL/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 36 | 0 | #DEEL/0! | |
| 50 | Cadillac | 33 | 4 | 725,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 61 | 5 | 1120,0% |
| 51 | Rolls Royce | 28 | 40 | -30,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 85 | 101 | -15,8% |
| 52 | Lotus | 28 | 24 | 16,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 75 | 44 | 70,5% |
| 53 | Aiways | 23 | 0 | #DEEL/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 42 | 0 | #DEEL/0! |
| 54 | Maxus | 20 | 0 | #DEEL/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 90 | 0 | #DEEL/0! |
| 55 | Chevrolet | 15 | 6 | 150,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 24 | 21 | 14,3% |
| 56 | Chrysler | 5 | 9 | -44,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 14 | 15 | -6,7% |
| 57 | Geely | 3 | 1 | 200,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | 4 | 3 | 33,3% |
| 58 | Xpeng | 2 | 0 | #DEEL/0! | 0,0% | 0,0% | 57 | 11 | 0 | #DEEL/0! |
| 59 | Bugatti | 2 | 3 | -33,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | 4 | 5 | -20,0% |
| 60 | Infiniti | 1 | 103 | -99,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0 | 1 | 169 | -99,4% |
European car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. They exclude vehicles registered as commercial vehicles. Source: ANDC, JATO Dynamics