European car sales analysis first half 2021 – brands

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