In the first half of 2021 the European car market is up 26.3% on the first six months of 2020 but down 22.1% on the same period of 2019, translating to a loss of 1.5 million vehicle deliveries. The market has been slowly recovering from the lockdowns in early 2020 but the worldwide computer chip shortage is causing factory closure, constraining supply of new cars across the world. This is hurting some manufacturers more than others and the extent of this will become more apparent in Q3 of 2021. Renault-Nissan and Ford appear to struggle more with the chip shortages than most Asian manufacturers. Production and supply are not expected to return to normal levels until next year. The region’s 27 markets posted rather similar results so far this year, with strong year-on-year gains seen in most countries, including the five major ones: Italy (+51.4%), United Kingdom (+39.2%), Spain (+34.4%), France (+28.9%) and Germany (+14.9%).
Car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) lose market share at +21.7% to their lowest market share ever at 51.8%, down from 53.9% in all of 2020. Crossovers and SUVs outperform at +38.8% to their highest ever market share at 43.8%, up from 40.4% in all of 2020. MPV sales are down again at -9.9% to a new low at 4.3% share, down from 5.7% in 2020 and from 10% in 2017. Within these figures, EV and PHEV sales jumped 157% year-on-year to over a million deliveries for a 16% market share (7.6% full electrics/BEVs).
First half 2021 Manufacturers
Volkswagen Group wins half a percentage point of market share on last year thanks to sales up 28.3%, but Stellantis does even better at +31.7%, gaining 0.9 percentage points of share. Renault-Nissan is the worst performing manufacturer in Europe with sales up just 5.6% on last year, losing 2.3 percentage points of share. Toyota Motor (+36.4%) and Hyundai-Kia (+33.9%) are the best performing manufacturers in the top-8, as the South-Korean manufacturer passes BMW AG (+29.6%) and the Japanese manufacturer jumps ahead of Daimler AG (+19.7%) and Ford Motor Company (+9.6%). Geely Group has a good start of 2021 with sales up 40.1%, but Suzuki does even better at +48.3% to move ahead of Tata Motors (+19.1%). Mazda also outperforms at +38%, and Tesla sets a new sales record in Europe, improving 80.2% on the first half of 2020. Honda is up just 5.8% and Mahindra & Mahindra is up just 8.7%. SAIC more than doubles up to nearly 21,000 sales in the first six months, double the deliveries of Subaru, which surprisingly also outperforms the market. Aston Martin is up 60.5%.
| Group | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 1.690.395 | 1.317.745 | 28,3% | 26,2% | 25,7% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 1.384.412 | 1.051.369 | 31,7% | 21,4% | 20,5% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 744.392 | 705.189 | 5,6% | 11,5% | 13,8% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 478.422 | 357.168 | 33,9% | 7,4% | 7,0% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 464.750 | 358.528 | 29,6% | 7,2% | 7,0% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 404.076 | 296.352 | 36,4% | 6,3% | 5,8% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 375.463 | 313.776 | 19,7% | 5,8% | 6,1% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 328.837 | 299.916 | 9,6% | 5,1% | 5,9% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 177.069 | 126.393 | 40,1% | 2,7% | 2,5% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 104.030 | 70.128 | 48,3% | 1,6% | 1,4% |
| 11 | Tata Motors | 88.579 | 74.369 | 19,1% | 1,4% | 1,5% |
| 12 | Mazda | 81.719 | 59.197 | 38,0% | 1,3% | 1,2% |
| 13 | Tesla Motors | 67.578 | 37.504 | 80,2% | 1,0% | 0,7% |
| 14 | Honda | 34.657 | 32.757 | 5,8% | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 15 | SAIC | 20.896 | 8.783 | 137,9% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 10.340 | 8.068 | 28,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 5.133 | 4.723 | 8,7% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 1.085 | 676 | 60,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 19 | General Motors | 346 | 98 | 253,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
First half 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen gains share again but last year’s #2 Renault is down to fourth place with sales up just 4.5%, allowing Peugeot (+32.35) and Toyota (+37.6%) to move up, the Japanese brand landing onto the podium. Peugeot and Toyota are the best performing brands in the top-10. BMW (+29.1%) moves ahead of Mercedes-Benz (+15.8%) to become Europe’s best selling luxury brand, with Audi (+29.6%) performing even better but remains behind its rivals. Skoda (+22%) leapfrogs Ford (+9.6%) while Opel/Vauxhall rounds up the top-10. Fiat (+35.9%) is closing in on the top-10, moving ahead of Citroën (+28.9%). Kia is up 31% and gains market share but feels Seat (including Cupra, +42.2%) breathing down its neck while Hyundai (+37%) distanced Dacia (+17.5%). Volvo (+32.9%) jumps Nissan (+10.5%) just as Suzuki (+48.3%) does the same with Mini (+31.8%).
Mazda is up 38% but Jeeps does even better at +58.1% but Tesla closes in at +80.2%, moving past Land Rover (+24.8%) and Mitsubishi, the worst performing brand in Europ with sales down -34.4% after announcing its departure from the market, from which it later retreated. Honda is not far behind, despite gaining only 5.8%. Lancia (+45%) is helped by the strong recovery of the Italian market, and oves ahead of Lexus (+19.8%), Jaguar (+5.5%) and DS (+8.1%), with the Japanese brand also passing the latter two. MG more than doubles on last year, while Smart more than triples, as both brands leapfrog Alfa Romeo, down 2.7%. Chinese/Swedish Polestar lands between Subaru (+28.2%) and SsangYong (+10.9%) and way ahead of Chinese/Italian DR Motor which almost triples up. Ferrari and Maserati gain market share, while Lamborghini closes in on Bentley. Lynk & Co lands between Mahindra and Dodge, with about double the volume of fellow Chinese brands Xpeng, Maxus and Aiways, with Seres even further behind. Genesis lands with its first 169 deliveries.
| Brand | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 731.853 | 576.257 | 27,0% | 11,3% | 11,2% |
| 2 | Peugeot | 427.989 | 323.441 | 32,3% | 6,6% | 6,3% |
| 3 | Toyota | 379.417 | 275.777 | 37,6% | 5,9% | 5,4% |
| 4 | Renault | 375.105 | 358.904 | 4,5% | 5,8% | 7,0% |
| 5 | BMW | 371.111 | 287.479 | 29,1% | 5,7% | 5,6% |
| 6 | Mercedes-Benz | 356.013 | 307.351 | 15,8% | 5,5% | 6,0% |
| 7 | Audi | 341.432 | 263.466 | 29,6% | 5,3% | 5,1% |
| 8 | Skoda | 339.183 | 278.030 | 22,0% | 5,2% | 5,4% |
| 9 | Ford | 328.835 | 299.914 | 9,6% | 5,1% | 5,9% |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall | 278.613 | 216.320 | 28,8% | 4,3% | 4,2% |
| 11 | Fiat | 274.637 | 202.157 | 35,9% | 4,2% | 3,9% |
| 12 | Citroën | 265.476 | 206.016 | 28,9% | 4,1% | 4,0% |
| 13 | Kia | 241.757 | 184.587 | 31,0% | 3,7% | 3,6% |
| 14 | Seat & Cupra | 237.253 | 166.851 | 42,2% | 3,7% | 3,3% |
| 15 | Hyundai | 236.496 | 172.581 | 37,0% | 3,7% | 3,4% |
| 16 | Dacia | 192.508 | 163.881 | 17,5% | 3,0% | 3,2% |
| 17 | Volvo | 167.580 | 126.113 | 32,9% | 2,6% | 2,5% |
| 18 | Nissan | 139.992 | 126.720 | 10,5% | 2,2% | 2,5% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 104.030 | 70.128 | 48,3% | 1,6% | 1,4% |
| 20 | Mini | 93.313 | 70.782 | 31,8% | 1,4% | 1,4% |
| 21 | Mazda | 81.719 | 59.197 | 38,0% | 1,3% | 1,2% |
| 22 | Jeep | 71.607 | 45.282 | 58,1% | 1,1% | 0,9% |
| 23 | Tesla | 67.578 | 37.504 | 80,2% | 1,0% | 0,7% |
| 24 | Land Rover | 65.344 | 52.344 | 24,8% | 1,0% | 1,0% |
| 25 | Porsche | 37.600 | 30.571 | 23,0% | 0,6% | 0,6% |
| 26 | Mitsubishi | 35.160 | 53.593 | -34,4% | 0,5% | 1,0% |
| 27 | Honda | 34.657 | 32.757 | 5,8% | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 28 | Lancia | 27.214 | 18.772 | 45,0% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 29 | Lexus | 24.659 | 20.575 | 19,8% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 30 | Jaguar | 23.235 | 22.025 | 5,5% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 31 | DS | 22.503 | 20.825 | 8,1% | 0,3% | 0,4% |
| 32 | SAIC MG | 20.695 | 8.783 | 135,6% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 33 | Smart | 19.450 | 6.425 | 202,7% | 0,3% | 0,1% |
| 34 | Alfa Romeo | 13.817 | 14.195 | -2,7% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 35 | Subaru | 10.340 | 8.068 | 28,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 36 | Polestar | 8.618 | 65 | +++ | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 37 | SSangYong | 4.618 | 4.164 | 10,9% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 38 | DR Motor | 3.395 | 1.157 | 193,4% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Ferrari | 3.235 | 1.998 | 61,9% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Maserati | 2.039 | 1.355 | 50,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | Bentley | 1.349 | 1.373 | -1,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Lamborghini | 1.302 | 969 | 34,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 1.085 | 676 | 60,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Alpine | 905 | 545 | 66,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Lada | 718 | 1.230 | -41,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Mahindra | 515 | 559 | -7,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Lynk & Co | 510 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Dodge | 467 | 442 | 5,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Great Wall | 449 | 159 | 182,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | Lotus | 356 | 182 | 95,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Rolls Royce | 326 | 267 | 22,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Xpeng | 234 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 53 | Maxus | 201 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 54 | Chevrolet | 200 | 75 | 166,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 55 | Aiways | 169 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 56 | Genesis | 169 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 57 | Chrysler | 43 | 40 | 7,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 58 | Seres | 23 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 59 | Bugatti | 13 | 13 | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
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