May 2021 marks the third consecutive month of recovery for the European car market at +72% on May 2020. However, compared to May 2019 the market is still down 23.7%. This last figure has been quite stable for these 5 months of 2021, waving between -29.3% in January and -22.4% in March. At 1.08 million registrations, May 2021 is also slightly up on April at 1.05 million. The year-to-date figure now stands at 5.18 million deliveries, up 29% (but down 24.3% on the first five months of 2019). Many European markets posted double- and triple-digit percentage gains in May. The UK (+674.1%) and Spain (+177.8%) posted the biggest increase among the five major markets. France +46.4%, Italy +43.0% and Germany +37.2% trail the overall market growth. Looking at year-to-date figures, only Romania (-9.1%) and Netherlands (-2.4%) are the only markets still in the red.
Sales of car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) grow with the market at +70.8% to and improve from their lowest share ever last month to 51.8%. After three market share records in the last four months, crossovers and SUVs outperform at +87.7% to their second-best ever market share at 44.1% share. MPV sales are up just 20.9% to 4.1% share. MPVs are still down 9.5% year-to-date. Within these figures, EV and PHEV sales jumped 158% year-on-year to over 178,000 deliveries for a 15% market share
May 2021 Manufacturers
Thanks to sales almost doubling on last year, Volkswagen Group achieves its second-best market share in Europe since 2001. Its 28.2% share only bested by the 29.2% it held in April 2020 which was obviously not a regular sales month. As such, VW Group consolidates its leadership as Stellantis (+62.9%) and Renault-Nissan (+29.7%) are losing share. In fact, the latter is the worst performing major manufacturer. Hyundai-Kia more than doubles its sales and holds on to the fourth place ahead of BMW AG. Toyota Motor Company also more than doubles up and jumps to 6th place, passing Daimler AG which is up just 41.7%. Ford Motor Company is second-worst among major manufacturers at +33.7%. Geely Group slightly beats the market at +77.2%, and so do Suzuki (+90.8%), Mazda (+87%) and Tata Motors (+79.2%). Tesla Motors more than triples up on last year, making it the best performing manufacturer ahead of Honda, up 130.5%.
| Group | May-21 | May-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 301.923 | 155.332 | 94,4% | 28,2% | 24,9% | 1.351.315 | 1.047.712 | 29,0% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 225.628 | 138.527 | 62,9% | 21,1% | 22,2% | 1.121.797 | 820.911 | 36,7% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 115.525 | 89.058 | 29,7% | 10,8% | 14,3% | 584.010 | 521.741 | 11,9% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 85.885 | 42.466 | 102,2% | 8,0% | 6,8% | 374.441 | 287.330 | 30,3% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 77.567 | 39.392 | 96,9% | 7,2% | 6,3% | 377.093 | 285.003 | 32,3% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 66.141 | 32.762 | 101,9% | 6,2% | 5,3% | 322.908 | 234.004 | 38,0% |
| 7 | Daimler AG | 56.987 | 40.207 | 41,7% | 5,3% | 6,4% | 313.890 | 247.146 | 27,0% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 52.679 | 39.410 | 33,7% | 4,9% | 6,3% | 273.315 | 233.916 | 16,8% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 26.287 | 14.835 | 77,2% | 2,5% | 2,4% | 145.087 | 96.190 | 50,8% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 17.706 | 9.278 | 90,8% | 1,7% | 1,5% | 81.405 | 53.132 | 53,2% |
| 11 | Mazda | 14.631 | 7.823 | 87,0% | 1,4% | 1,3% | 63.741 | 47.550 | 34,1% |
| 12 | Tata Motors | 11.744 | 6.555 | 79,2% | 1,1% | 1,1% | 64.067 | 61.413 | 4,3% |
| 13 | Tesla Motors | 8.824 | 2.779 | 217,5% | 0,8% | 0,4% | 41.544 | 29.275 | 41,9% |
| 14 | Honda | 6.485 | 2.814 | 130,5% | 0,6% | 0,5% | 26.933 | 26.650 | 1,1% |
| 15 | Subaru Corp. | 1.802 | 1.225 | 47,1% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 8.260 | 6.553 | 26,0% |
| 16 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 863 | 639 | 35,1% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 4.123 | 3.679 | 12,1% |
| 17 | SAIC | 518 | 467 | 10,9% | 0,0% | 0,1% | 11.376 | 6.493 | 75,2% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 193 | 63 | 206,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 912 | 546 | 67,0% |
| 19 | General Motors | 57 | 15 | 280,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 306 | 76 | 302,6% |
May 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen gains share again while Peugeot underperforms in second place. Audi takes a surprise podium position, just 103 deliveries ahead of Toyota and 175 ahead of BMW. Skoda is another 1,000 deliveries behind in 6th place, just 550 ahead of Renault, the worst performing brand in the top-15 at just +32.9%. Mercedes-Benz was in third place in April but drops to #8 in May, just ahead of Ford, with Fiat completing the top-10. Seat (combined with Cupra) is the best performing brand in the top-20 at +168.3%, outselling Opel/Vauxhall and Citroën. Both Kia and Hyundai double their sales on last May, distancing Dacia which is up just 16.9%. Mini also doubles up to pass Mazda, while Tesla has a strong May while usually it’s only strong in the last month of each quarter. Smart more than triples up as well and so do DR Motor at #37 and Aston Martin at #43. Lada at #45 is the only brand to sell less than last May, as the brand is being phased out of the European market where it was sold in just a handful of markets, mainly with its ancient but cult-like Niva off-roader. Among the Chinese newcomers, Xpeng is at #51 ahead of Aiways and Maxus.
| Brand | May-21 | May-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD rank | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 125.740 | 68.435 | 83,7% | 11,7% | 11,0% | 1 | 579.308 | 458.295 | 26,4% |
| 2 | Peugeot | 65.825 | 40.874 | 61,0% | 6,1% | 6,6% | 2 | 351.997 | 248.572 | 41,6% |
| 3 | Audi | 62.281 | 32.870 | 89,5% | 5,8% | 5,3% | 8 | 274.582 | 211.388 | 29,9% |
| 4 | Toyota | 62.178 | 30.808 | 101,8% | 5,8% | 4,9% | 3 | 303.517 | 217.940 | 39,3% |
| 5 | BMW | 62.106 | 31.684 | 96,0% | 5,8% | 5,1% | 4 | 301.566 | 230.231 | 31,0% |
| 6 | Skoda | 61.041 | 32.408 | 88,4% | 5,7% | 5,2% | 7 | 276.056 | 219.064 | 26,0% |
| 7 | Renault | 60.490 | 45.502 | 32,9% | 5,6% | 7,3% | 6 | 289.892 | 252.503 | 14,8% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz | 53.589 | 39.252 | 36,5% | 5,0% | 6,3% | 5 | 297.645 | 242.207 | 22,9% |
| 9 | Ford | 52.679 | 39.410 | 33,7% | 4,9% | 6,3% | 9 | 273.313 | 233.914 | 16,8% |
| 10 | Fiat | 49.582 | 30.893 | 60,5% | 4,6% | 5,0% | 11 | 220.621 | 157.152 | 40,4% |
| 11 | Seat & Cupra | 45.619 | 17.003 | 168,3% | 4,3% | 2,7% | 14 | 187.754 | 133.666 | 40,5% |
| 12 | Opel/Vauxhall | 44.345 | 24.697 | 79,6% | 4,1% | 4,0% | 10 | 223.917 | 174.226 | 28,5% |
| 13 | Citroën | 43.601 | 27.231 | 60,1% | 4,1% | 4,4% | 12 | 214.954 | 159.625 | 34,7% |
| 14 | Kia | 43.065 | 21.411 | 101,1% | 4,0% | 3,4% | 13 | 190.693 | 148.745 | 28,2% |
| 15 | Hyundai | 42.816 | 21.055 | 103,4% | 4,0% | 3,4% | 15 | 183.617 | 138.585 | 32,5% |
| 16 | Dacia | 29.815 | 25.505 | 16,9% | 2,8% | 4,1% | 16 | 147.880 | 120.855 | 22,4% |
| 17 | Volvo | 24.977 | 14.805 | 68,7% | 2,3% | 2,4% | 17 | 137.759 | 96.002 | 43,5% |
| 18 | Nissan | 18.615 | 10.913 | 70,6% | 1,7% | 1,7% | 18 | 117.178 | 103.081 | 13,7% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 17.706 | 9.278 | 90,8% | 1,7% | 1,5% | 19 | 81.405 | 53.132 | 53,2% |
| 20 | Mini | 15.420 | 7.690 | 100,5% | 1,4% | 1,2% | 20 | 75.248 | 54.551 | 37,9% |
| 21 | Mazda | 14.631 | 7.823 | 87,0% | 1,4% | 1,3% | 21 | 63.741 | 47.550 | 34,1% |
| 22 | Jeep | 11.171 | 7.187 | 55,4% | 1,0% | 1,2% | 22 | 57.315 | 34.729 | 65,0% |
| 23 | Tesla | 8.824 | 2.779 | 217,5% | 0,8% | 0,4% | 24 | 41.544 | 29.275 | 41,9% |
| 24 | Land Rover | 7.211 | 4.661 | 54,7% | 0,7% | 0,7% | 23 | 45.229 | 42.913 | 5,4% |
| 25 | Porsche | 6.679 | 4.337 | 54,0% | 0,6% | 0,7% | 25 | 31.074 | 23.218 | 33,8% |
| 26 | Honda | 6.485 | 2.814 | 130,5% | 0,6% | 0,5% | 27 | 26.933 | 26.650 | 1,1% |
| 27 | Mitsubishi | 6.327 | 6.887 | -8,1% | 0,6% | 1,1% | 26 | 27.784 | 43.688 | -36,4% |
| 28 | Lancia | 4.632 | 2.438 | 90,0% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 28 | 22.866 | 15.264 | 49,8% |
| 29 | Jaguar | 4.533 | 1.894 | 139,3% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 30 | 18.838 | 18.500 | 1,8% |
| 30 | Lexus | 3.963 | 1.954 | 102,8% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 29 | 19.391 | 16.064 | 20,7% |
| 31 | DS | 3.515 | 2.466 | 42,5% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 31 | 16.977 | 16.952 | 0,1% |
| 32 | Smart | 3.398 | 955 | 255,8% | 0,3% | 0,2% | 32 | 16.245 | 4.939 | 228,9% |
| 33 | Alfa Romeo | 2.519 | 2.086 | 20,8% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 34 | 11.074 | 10.984 | 0,8% |
| 34 | Subaru | 1.802 | 1.225 | 47,1% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 35 | 8.260 | 6.553 | 26,0% |
| 35 | Polestar | 1.232 | 2 | 61500,0% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 36 | 7.045 | 40 | 17512,5% |
| 36 | SSangYong | 770 | 576 | 33,7% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 37 | 3.693 | 3.232 | 14,3% |
| 37 | DR Motor | 640 | 188 | 240,4% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 39 | 2.727 | 849 | 221,2% |
| 38 | SAIC MG | 500 | 467 | 7,1% | 0,0% | 0,1% | 33 | 11.207 | 6.493 | 72,6% |
| 39 | Ferrari | 471 | 293 | 60,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 38 | 2.746 | 1.575 | 74,3% |
| 40 | Maserati | 329 | 145 | 126,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 1.665 | 1.028 | 62,0% |
| 41 | Lamborghini | 256 | 111 | 130,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 1.101 | 768 | 43,4% |
| 42 | Bentley | 236 | 134 | 76,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 | 1.132 | 1.135 | -0,3% |
| 43 | Aston Martin | 193 | 63 | 206,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 912 | 546 | 67,0% |
| 44 | Alpine | 145 | 116 | 25,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 668 | 408 | 63,7% |
| 45 | Lada | 132 | 135 | -2,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 604 | 893 | -32,4% |
| 46 | Great Wall | 96 | 61 | 57,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 371 | 114 | 225,4% |
| 47 | Dodge | 96 | 74 | 29,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 369 | 338 | 9,2% |
| 48 | Mahindra | 93 | 63 | 47,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 430 | 447 | -3,8% |
| 49 | Lotus | 78 | 28 | 178,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 278 | 145 | 91,7% |
| 50 | Chevrolet | 56 | 14 | 300,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 160 | 61 | 162,3% |
| 51 | Xpeng | 49 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 200 | 0 | New |
| 52 | Rolls Royce | 41 | 18 | 127,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 279 | 221 | 26,2% |
| 53 | Aiways | 22 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 118 | 0 | New |
| 54 | Maxus | 18 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 169 | 0 | New |
| 55 | Chrysler | 13 | 7 | 85,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 57 | 35 | 32 | 9,4% |
| 56 | Genesis | 4 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 131 | 0 | New |
| 57 | Infiniti | 1 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 59 | 4 | 313 | -98,7% |
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