In January 2021, European car sales were down 20.5% to 840,000 units, the lowest January volume in 39 years, as a result of COVID-19 related restrictions in many countries. Besides, January 2021 had one business day less than in January 2020. But this is the third consecutive January of declines, and 2021 is down nearly 35% on January 2018.
Nearly all 27 EU markets suffered double-digit losses last month, including four of the five major markets: Spain was the hardest-hit (-51.5%), followed by the UK (-39.5%), Germany (-31.1%) and Italy (-14.0%). With a slight drop of 5.8%, France was the best performing major market. In fact, Sweden (+22.5%), Norway (+7.7%) and France were the only European countries that did not post double-digit drops in January.
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) lose share at -27% to drop to their third lowest share of the last 12 months, after last July and August at 53.1%. Crossover and SUV outperform at -19.6% and set a new record of 43% share. Meanwhile, MPV sales are down 49.1% to 3.8% share which is a new record low. Within these figures, EV and PHEV sales don’t extend their 2-month record streak, as a lot of unsold electrified cars were self-registered at the end of 2020 by manufacturers and dealers, in order to reduce the manufacturer’s CO2 emissions penalty. As a result of that, we expected a hangover for the first few months of 2021, but the opposite is true. Plug-in vehicles were up 50% on January 2020 to around 112,000 registrations, for a market share of 13.3%, more than double the share of January 2020 (6.6%) and also above the 2020 total of 11%. EVs were up 18% to nearly 47,000 (5.6% share), while PHEVs were up 85% to nearly 65,000 (7.7% share).
January 2021 Manufacturers
The top-3 manufacturers all lose between 0.5 and 1 percentage points of market share, as Volkswagen Group is down 27.8%, newly formed Stellantis is down 26.9% and Renault-Nissan does even worse at -28.9%. BMW AG jumps to fourth place thanks to sales down 16.2%, passing Hyundai-Kia at -25.7%. Toyota Motor gains market share at -18.6%, distancing Daimler AG at -20.3% and Ford Motor Company at -26%. The Chinese are the only manufacturers to sell more in January 2021 than a year before, as Geely Group is up 8.9% thanks to strong sales of Volvo, and SAIC is up 8% thanks to MG. Suzuki is the next best performer at -2% but that’s also partially because it had a terrible January 2020 which was down almost 35% on January 2019. Aston Martin (-16.4%) and Tesla Motors (-18%) also beat the market, but Honda (-56.5%), Tata Motors (-52.2%), Mazda (-36.1%) and Subaru (-33.4%) continue lose share, even in a depressed market.
| Group | jan-21 | jan-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 212.449 | 294.153 | -27,8% | 25,4% | 26,3% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 178.694 | 244.256 | -26.9% | 21,3% | 21,8% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 100.440 | 141.325 | -28,9% | 12,0% | 12,6% |
| 4 | BMW AG | 64.140 | 76.564 | -16,2% | 7,7% | 6,8% |
| 5 | Hyundai-Kia | 58.357 | 78.527 | -25,7% | 7,0% | 7,0% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 57.617 | 70.772 | -18,6% | 6,9% | 6,3% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 53.388 | 66.947 | -20,3% | 6,4% | 6,0% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 48.429 | 65.435 | -26,0% | 5,8% | 5,8% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 25.546 | 23.458 | 8,9% | 3,0% | 2,1% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 13.030 | 13.300 | -2,0% | 1,6% | 1,2% |
| 11 | Tata Motors | 8.384 | 17.557 | -52,2% | 1,0% | 1,6% |
| 12 | Mazda | 8.356 | 13.084 | -36,1% | 1,0% | 1,2% |
| 13 | Honda | 3.534 | 8.129 | -56,5% | 0,4% | 0,7% |
| 14 | SAIC | 2.021 | 1.871 | 8,0% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 15 | Tesla Motors | 1.697 | 2.069 | -18,0% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.044 | 1.568 | -33,4% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 701 | 951 | -26,3% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 138 | 165 | -16,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 19 | General Motors | 40 | 16 | 150,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
January 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen struggles after scoring big in December. It’s the biggest loser in the top-8 at -31%, while its closest four rivals all beat the market. Peugeot is in second place ahead of Toyota, which means the Japanese brand is on the podium in Europe for the very first time. BMW and Mercedes-Benz follow, ahead of Renault, as the regular #2 brand is down to an embarrassing 6th place, just ahead of Ford. Skoda gains share, but Audi and Opel/Vauxhall are the biggest losers in the top-10. Dacia recovers from a tough 2020 thanks to the new generation Sandero, as the Romanian brand is down just 9.2%. Volvo does even better at +3.3%, making it the only brand in the top-20 to sell more than last year. It now outsells Nissan, the biggest loser in the top-20 at -38.8%. Mini (-19%) and Jeep (-12.1%) outperform, as do Porsche (+1.8%), MG (+4.3%) and Tesla (-18%). Smart almost triples its sales of January 2020 which was its first month as an EV-only brand. Polestar is in 35th place just behind rival Tesla, Maserati is down just 6.2% and Lamborghini is up 2.2%.
Among smaller Chinese brands, DR Motor is up 20.4% to #38, Maxus lands at #45 with 70 deliveries of its electric MPV in Norway, Great Wall is up 150% to #49, Aiways delivers 19 electric crossovers for a 53rd place and Xpeng registers 9 electric crossovers in Norway. We also welcome South-Korea’s luxury brand Genesis as a standalone brand in Europe, with a single registration in January, making it twice as exclusive as Bugatti.
| Brand | jan-21 | jan-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 90.543 | 131.247 | -31,0% | 10,8% | 11,7% |
| 2 | Peugeot | 61.184 | 74.891 | -18,3% | 7,3% | 6,7% |
| 3 | Toyota | 54.310 | 65.801 | -17,5% | 6,5% | 5,9% |
| 4 | BMW | 53.738 | 63.731 | -15,7% | 6,4% | 5,7% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz | 50.766 | 66.067 | -23,2% | 6,1% | 5,9% |
| 6 | Renault | 48.488 | 67.208 | -27,9% | 5,8% | 6,0% |
| 7 | Ford | 48.428 | 65.435 | -26,0% | 5,8% | 5,8% |
| 8 | Skoda | 46.338 | 58.901 | -21,3% | 5,5% | 5,3% |
| 9 | Audi | 39.997 | 58.186 | -31,3% | 4,8% | 5,2% |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall | 33.985 | 51.095 | -33,5% | 4,1% | 4,6% |
| 11 | Fiat | 32.947 | 45.243 | -27,2% | 3,9% | 4,0% |
| 12 | Citroën | 32.329 | 47.351 | -31,7% | 3,9% | 4,2% |
| 13 | Kia | 30.230 | 38.249 | -21,0% | 3,6% | 3,4% |
| 14 | Seat | 29.466 | 39.707 | -25,8% | 3,5% | 3,5% |
| 15 | Dacia | 28.363 | 31.252 | -9,2% | 3,4% | 2,8% |
| 16 | Hyundai | 28.126 | 40.278 | -30,2% | 3,4% | 3,6% |
| 17 | Volvo | 24.203 | 23.435 | 3,3% | 2,9% | 2,1% |
| 18 | Nissan | 19.284 | 31.247 | -38,3% | 2,3% | 2,8% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 13.030 | 13.300 | -2,0% | 1,6% | 1,2% |
| 20 | Mini | 10.345 | 12.772 | -19,0% | 1,2% | 1,1% |
| 21 | Jeep | 9.274 | 10.545 | -12,1% | 1,1% | 0,9% |
| 22 | Mazda | 8.356 | 13.084 | -36,1% | 1,0% | 1,2% |
| 23 | Land Rover | 6.588 | 12.370 | -46,7% | 0,8% | 1,1% |
| 24 | Porsche | 5.595 | 5.496 | 1,8% | 0,7% | 0,5% |
| 25 | Mitsubishi | 4.165 | 11.232 | -62,9% | 0,5% | 1,0% |
| 26 | Lancia | 4.054 | 6.254 | -35,2% | 0,5% | 0,6% |
| 27 | Honda | 3.534 | 8.129 | -56,5% | 0,4% | 0,7% |
| 28 | Lexus | 3.307 | 4.971 | -33,5% | 0,4% | 0,4% |
| 29 | DS | 2.710 | 4.953 | -45,3% | 0,3% | 0,4% |
| 30 | Smart | 2.622 | 880 | 198,0% | 0,3% | 0,1% |
| 31 | SAIC MG | 1.951 | 1.871 | 4,3% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 32 | Alfa Romeo | 1.832 | 3.375 | -45,7% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 33 | Jaguar | 1.796 | 5.187 | -65,4% | 0,2% | 0,5% |
| 34 | Tesla | 1.697 | 2.069 | -18,0% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| 35 | Polestar | 1.295 | 1 | New | 0,2% | 0,0% |
| 36 | Subaru | 1.044 | 1.568 | -33,4% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 37 | SSangYong | 645 | 794 | -18,8% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 38 | DR Motor | 377 | 313 | 20,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 39 | Maserati | 331 | 353 | -6,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 40 | Ferrari | 283 | 341 | -17,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 41 | Bentley | 256 | 402 | -36,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 42 | Lamborghini | 184 | 180 | 2,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 138 | 165 | -16,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 44 | Alpine | 77 | 67 | 14,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 45 | Maxus | 70 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 46 | Lada | 62 | 216 | -71,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 47 | Rolls Royce | 57 | 61 | -6,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 48 | Mahindra | 56 | 157 | -64,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 49 | Great Wall | 50 | 20 | 150,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 50 | Lotus | 47 | 20 | 135,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 51 | Dodge | 39 | 59 | -33,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 52 | Cadillac | 28 | 1 | 2700,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 53 | Aiways | 19 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 54 | Chevrolet | 9 | 15 | -40,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 55 | Chrysler | 9 | 6 | 50,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 56 | Xpeng | 9 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 57 | Bugatti | 2 | 2 | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 58 | Geely | 1 | 2 | -50,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 59 | Genesis | 1 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 60 | Infiniti | 1 | 103 | -99,0% | 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