October is the worst month of 2021 so far for the European car market, as it drops 26.4% as the industry continues to struggle with reduced supply because as a result of the worldwide microchip shortages. At just 828,500 deliveries, October is the second worst month of the year in terms of volume, after August which is traditionally the slowest month due to the summer vacation. The year-to-date figure now stands at just over 10 million deliveries, up 3.2% (but down 24.1% on the first ten months of 2019). Many European markets posted double-digit percentage drops in June. For the third month in a row, the largest car markets posted double-digit declines: Italy (-35.7%), Germany (-34.9%) and France (-30.7%) fall faster than the overall market while United Kingdom (-24.6%) and Spain (-20.5%) perform only slightly better. On the other hand, we see increased sales some of the smaller markets like Ireland (+16.7%), Iceland (+6.5%) and Cyprus (+12.1%).
Car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) lose market share again at -32.5% and their market share drops to the second lowest ever at 49%, after the 48.9% last July. Crossovers and SUVs outperform at -16.6% but set a new record market share at 47.6%, up another half a percentage point on last month’s new record. MPV sales have their second worst month ever at -52.7% to 2.8% share. Plug-in vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) outsold diesel passenger vehicles for the third time in a row and ever, taking a record 22.9% market share while diesel share is down to just 19%.
October 2021 Manufacturers
Strangely, while some media outlets are reporting Stellantis outselling Volkswagen Group this month, our data shows VW Group still ahead by 14,000 deliveries, although Stellantis is closing the gap at -29.8% which is 5 percentage points better than its rival. Renault-Nissan is at -27.3% but at a distance. Hyundai-Kia continue to seem unaffected by the semiconductor shortages, as the only major manufacturer in the black at +5.5%. BMW AG is down 22.8% while its rival Daimler AG loses more than a third of its sales. Toyota Motor has been able to keep its sales pretty stable in recent months but is now also starting to feel the effects of supply shortages with sales down 24.2%. Ford Motor Company is once again affected the worst in the top-10 at -36.3%. Geely Group is down just 6.4% thanks to outstanding performances of Polestar and Lynk & Co. Suzuki and Mazda slighely outperform the market, but Tata Motors loses almost half of its sales. SAIC Motor and Tesla Motors are once again the best performing manufacturers, at +88% and +132.5% respectively.
| Group | okt-21 | okt-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 184.151 | 282.300 | -34,8% | 22,4% | 25,1% | 2.553.337 | 2.449.281 | 4,2% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 170.381 | 242.587 | -29,8% | 20,7% | 21,6% | 2.048.305 | 1.971.689 | 3,9% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 108.743 | 149.501 | -27,3% | 13,2% | 13,3% | 1.178.616 | 1.314.132 | -10,3% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 82.658 | 78.334 | 5,5% | 10,0% | 7,0% | 829.933 | 700.083 | 18,5% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 60.255 | 77.812 | -22,6% | 7,3% | 6,9% | 716.338 | 681.114 | 5,2% |
| 6 | Daimler AG | 52.972 | 80.146 | -33,9% | 6,4% | 7,1% | 571.660 | 623.006 | -8,2% |
| 7 | Toyota Motor | 47.668 | 62.859 | -24,2% | 5,8% | 5,6% | 627.589 | 560.166 | 12,0% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 39.080 | 61.325 | -36,3% | 4,8% | 5,5% | 496.426 | 578.494 | -14,2% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 27.511 | 29.404 | -6,4% | 3,3% | 2,6% | 265.721 | 235.167 | 13,0% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 13.691 | 17.965 | -23,8% | 1,7% | 1,6% | 168.086 | 140.697 | 19,5% |
| 11 | Mazda | 11.349 | 14.384 | -21,1% | 1,4% | 1,3% | 137.209 | 119.659 | 14,7% |
| 12 | Tata Motors | 6.895 | 12.968 | -46,8% | 0,8% | 1,2% | 123.660 | 131.534 | -6,0% |
| 13 | Honda | 5.957 | 7.544 | -21,0% | 0,7% | 0,7% | 62.696 | 67.588 | -7,2% |
| 14 | SAIC | 4.853 | 2.581 | 88,0% | 0,6% | 0,2% | 41.971 | 19.749 | 112,5% |
| 15 | Tesla Motors | 3.413 | 1.468 | 132,5% | 0,4% | 0,1% | 116.972 | 66.058 | 77,1% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.747 | 1.875 | -6,8% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 17.293 | 15.287 | 13,1% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.016 | 1.024 | -0,8% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 9.198 | 9.403 | -2,2% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 148 | 135 | 9,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 1.722 | 1.293 | 33,2% |
| 19 | General Motors | 47 | 60 | -21,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 506 | 256 | 97,7% |
October 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, the entire top-4 loses market share with drops of 30% or more. Volkswagen is below 10% market share for the second month in a row, something which hasn’t happened since 2005. Peugeot jumps from 7th place in September back to #2, just ahead of Renault. Mercedes-Benz jumps from 9th back to #4, just when BMW drops to #5 after spending two months on the podium. Toyota was in 2nd place in July and August, dropped ot 4th place in September and is now back down to 6th in October. Similarly, Hyundai scored an unheard of #4 spot in August before dropping to a still impressive 6th place in September, before falling to #7 in October, although it’s still the best performing brand in the top-20 and one of only two top-20 brands to improve their sales on last year, together with sister brand Kia in 9th. Volvo is the next best performer at -15.3% but Audi is the worst performing brand in the top-20 at -43.4%.
Porsche is up 9.4% at #23, while MG gains 86.7% at #27, Smart is up 10.4% and Tesla more than doubles its sales. Polestar also almost doubles up at #33 and so does DR Motor at #39. Alpine more than triples up at #43. While Lynk & Co is stable at #37, easily the best newly launched brand in Europe, ahead of BYD at #41, Genesis at #49, Xpeng at #55, Maxus at #57, Seres at #58 and Nio at #60.
| Brand | okt-21 | okt-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD rank | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 79.220 | 121.852 | -35,0% | 9,6% | 10,8% | 1 | 1.109.705 | 1.065.207 | 4,2% |
| 2 | Peugeot | 53.786 | 77.090 | -30,2% | 6,5% | 6,9% | 2 | 619.293 | 612.966 | 1,0% |
| 3 | Renault | 52.802 | 79.167 | -33,3% | 6,4% | 7,0% | 5 | 568.833 | 663.725 | -14,3% |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz | 48.827 | 76.390 | -36,1% | 5,9% | 6,8% | 6 | 541.529 | 604.886 | -10,5% |
| 5 | BMW | 47.326 | 60.575 | -21,9% | 5,7% | 5,4% | 4 | 574.748 | 539.725 | 6,5% |
| 6 | Toyota | 44.348 | 58.800 | -24,6% | 5,4% | 5,2% | 3 | 587.078 | 521.674 | 12,5% |
| 7 | Hyundai | 42.215 | 38.685 | 9,1% | 5,1% | 3,4% | 11 | 417.459 | 343.509 | 21,5% |
| 8 | Skoda | 41.075 | 59.489 | -31,0% | 5,0% | 5,3% | 7 | 516.588 | 521.161 | -0,9% |
| 9 | Kia | 40.377 | 39.649 | 1,8% | 4,9% | 3,5% | 12 | 411.988 | 356.574 | 15,5% |
| 10 | Ford | 39.079 | 61.322 | -36,3% | 4,7% | 5,5% | 9 | 496.423 | 578.489 | -14,2% |
| 11 | Opel/Vauxhall | 34.616 | 47.911 | -27,7% | 4,2% | 4,3% | 10 | 424.360 | 398.885 | 6,4% |
| 12 | Audi | 34.399 | 60.731 | -43,4% | 4,2% | 5,4% | 8 | 509.722 | 493.126 | 3,4% |
| 13 | Fiat | 33.819 | 48.223 | -29,9% | 4,1% | 4,3% | 13 | 406.334 | 385.700 | 5,3% |
| 14 | Citroën | 31.067 | 44.417 | -30,1% | 3,8% | 3,9% | 14 | 388.697 | 373.660 | 4,0% |
| 15 | Dacia | 30.843 | 38.856 | -20,6% | 3,7% | 3,5% | 16 | 329.903 | 322.825 | 2,2% |
| 16 | Volvo | 23.648 | 27.914 | -15,3% | 2,9% | 2,5% | 17 | 246.276 | 229.924 | 7,1% |
| 17 | Seat & Cupra | 21.727 | 33.158 | -34,5% | 2,6% | 2,9% | 15 | 352.722 | 307.530 | 14,7% |
| 18 | Nissan | 18.957 | 24.265 | -21,9% | 2,3% | 2,2% | 18 | 217.500 | 235.576 | -7,7% |
| 19 | Suzuki | 13.691 | 17.965 | -23,8% | 1,7% | 1,6% | 19 | 168.086 | 140.697 | 19,5% |
| 20 | Mini | 12.886 | 17.195 | -25,1% | 1,6% | 1,5% | 20 | 141.054 | 140.901 | 0,1% |
| 21 | Mazda | 11.349 | 14.384 | -21,1% | 1,4% | 1,3% | 21 | 137.209 | 119.659 | 14,7% |
| 22 | Jeep | 8.275 | 12.107 | -31,7% | 1,0% | 1,1% | 23 | 110.346 | 95.520 | 15,5% |
| 23 | Porsche | 7.212 | 6.594 | 9,4% | 0,9% | 0,6% | 26 | 59.334 | 57.641 | 2,9% |
| 24 | Honda | 5.957 | 7.544 | -21,0% | 0,7% | 0,7% | 25 | 62.696 | 67.588 | -7,2% |
| 25 | Mitsubishi | 5.775 | 7.088 | -18,5% | 0,7% | 0,6% | 27 | 59.293 | 88.783 | -33,2% |
| 26 | Land Rover | 5.295 | 9.655 | -45,2% | 0,6% | 0,9% | 24 | 91.071 | 93.361 | -2,5% |
| 27 | SAIC MG | 4.820 | 2.581 | 86,7% | 0,6% | 0,2% | 28 | 41.683 | 19.749 | 111,1% |
| 28 | Smart | 4.145 | 3.756 | 10,4% | 0,5% | 0,3% | 33 | 30.131 | 18.120 | 66,3% |
| 29 | DS | 3.507 | 3.838 | -8,6% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 31 | 35.323 | 34.798 | 1,5% |
| 30 | Tesla | 3.413 | 1.468 | 132,5% | 0,4% | 0,1% | 22 | 116.972 | 66.058 | 77,1% |
| 31 | Lexus | 3.320 | 4.059 | -18,2% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 29 | 40.511 | 38.492 | 5,2% |
| 32 | Lancia | 3.019 | 4.729 | -36,2% | 0,4% | 0,4% | 30 | 38.429 | 34.109 | 12,7% |
| 33 | Polestar | 2.781 | 1.417 | 96,3% | 0,3% | 0,1% | 36 | 15.230 | 4.712 | 223,2% |
| 34 | Alfa Romeo | 1.820 | 3.444 | -47,2% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 34 | 21.196 | 27.880 | -24,0% |
| 35 | Subaru | 1.747 | 1.875 | -6,8% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 35 | 17.293 | 15.287 | 13,1% |
| 36 | Jaguar | 1.600 | 3.313 | -51,7% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 32 | 32.589 | 38.173 | -14,6% |
| 37 | Lynk & Co | 1.044 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% | 40 | 3.679 | 0 | New |
| 38 | SSangYong | 959 | 888 | 8,0% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 37 | 8.413 | 8.303 | 1,3% |
| 39 | DR Motor | 905 | 475 | 90,5% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 38 | 6.118 | 2.636 | 132,1% |
| 40 | Maserati | 409 | 299 | 36,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 41 | 3.483 | 2.647 | 31,6% |
| 41 | BYD | 363 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 863 | 0 | New |
| 42 | Ferrari | 311 | 305 | 2,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 | 4.795 | 3.594 | 33,4% |
| 43 | Alpine | 253 | 82 | 208,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 1.775 | 956 | 85,7% |
| 44 | Bentley | 211 | 253 | -16,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 2.330 | 2.496 | -6,7% |
| 45 | Lamborghini | 181 | 189 | -4,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 1.981 | 1.684 | 17,6% |
| 46 | Aston Martin | 148 | 135 | 9,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 1.722 | 1.293 | 33,2% |
| 47 | Lada | 111 | 43 | 158,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 1.303 | 1.944 | -33,0% |
| 48 | Aiways | 97 | 2 | 4750,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 686 | 48 | 1329,2% |
| 49 | Genesis | 66 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 486 | 0 | New | |
| 50 | Mahindra | 57 | 136 | -58,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 785 | 1.100 | -28,6% |
| 51 | Dodge | 52 | 129 | -59,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 756 | 889 | -15,0% |
| 52 | Great Wall | 51 | 18 | 183,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 707 | 304 | 132,6% |
| 53 | Rolls Royce | 43 | 42 | 2,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 536 | 488 | 9,8% |
| 54 | Chevrolet | 43 | 24 | 79,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 352 | 174 | 102,3% |
| 55 | Xpeng | 43 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 438 | 0 | New |
| 56 | Lotus | 35 | 72 | -51,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 527 | 463 | 13,8% |
| 57 | Maxus | 33 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 57 | 288 | 0 | New |
| 58 | Seres | 17 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 60 | 111 | 0 | New |
| 59 | Chrysler | 11 | 6 | 83,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 61 | 78 | 71 | 9,9% |
| 60 | Nio | 10 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 59 | 133 | 0 | New | |
| 61 | JAC | 5 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 62 | 72 | 0 | New | |
| 62 | Hongqi | 4 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 66 | 4 | 0 | New |
| 63 | Geely | 3 | 1 | 200,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 65 | 9 | 68 | -86,8% |
| 64 | Bugatti | 2 | 0 | – | 0,0% | 0,0% | 63 | 20 | 18 | 11,1% |
| 65 | Infiniti | 2 | 0 | – | 0,0% | 0,0% | #### | 9 | 323 | -97,2% |
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