In 
September 2021, the European car market dips 23.3%, the biggest decline since last January and mostly due to reduced supply because of the semiconductor shortages that plague the industry worldwide. Also, September 2020 was a relatively strong month with sales virtually stable on 2019. At just 990,000 deliveries, September is a big improvement on August which is traditionally the slowest month of the year due to vacation shutdowns in most of southern Europe. The year-to-date figure now stands at 9.18 million deliveries, up 7% (but down 23.3% on the first nine 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: United Kingdom (-34.4%), Italy (-32.7%), Germany (-25.7%), France (-20.5%) and Spain (-15.7%). On the other hand, we see increased sales some of the smaller markets like Norway (+15.7%), Iceland (+15.3%), Cyprus (+12.1%) and Estonia (+8.2%).
Car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) lose market share again at -28.8% but improve their market share on last month to 50.9%. Crossovers and SUVs outperform at -14.6% but set a new record market share at 46.3%. MPV sales have their worst month ever at -58% to 2.8% share, which is the a new lowest ever, beating last January’s 3.8% by a full percentage point. If last month plug-in vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) outsold diesel passenger vehicles for the first time ever, in September they extend their lead significantly. Electrified passenger cars are up 44% to 221,500 units while diesel passenger cars drop 51% to 167,000 units.
September 2021 Manufacturers
Volkswagen Group no longer is able to outperform the market at -26.8% and loses 0.9 percentage points of market share at 26.8%, stable on August. Stellantis does even worse with sales down 27.5% and its share drops by a similar 0.9 percentage points to 18.9% while Renault-Nissan becomes the best performing manufacturer in the top-3 although it still loses share to 13% with sales down 25%. Hyundai-Kia has been on a roll lately, as one of the very few manufacturers that has been able to weather the microchip shortages. In September, the South-Koreans are the only manufacturers in the top-8 to sell more in September 2021 than the year before, at +4.1% to 10.3% market share. BMW AG and Toyota Motor Corporation both move just about along with the overall market, BMW gaining 0.2 percentage points of market share and Toyota Motor down 0.1 percentage points on last year. The worst performing manufacturers are Ford and Daimler at -41.5% and -44.5%. Best performing manufacturer is Tesla Motors at +81% to 3.5% market share. Mazda (-8.8%) and Suzuki (-16.5%) also outperform the market with SAIC up 47.8%.
| Group | sep-21 | sep-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 213.805 | 292.029 | -26,8% | 21,7% | 22,6% | 2.369.186 | 2.166.981 | 9,3% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 185.541 | 255.840 | -27,5% | 18,9% | 19,8% | 1.878.458 | 1.729.102 | 8,6% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 127.500 | 170.093 | -25,0% | 13,0% | 13,2% | 1.069.873 | 1.164.631 | -8,1% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 101.102 | 97.157 | 4,1% | 10,3% | 7,5% | 747.275 | 621.749 | 20,2% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 70.431 | 90.383 | -22,1% | 7,2% | 7,0% | 656.083 | 603.302 | 8,7% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 60.474 | 79.458 | -23,9% | 6,1% | 6,2% | 579.921 | 497.307 | 16,6% |
| 7 | Ford Motor Comp. | 48.579 | 82.587 | -41,2% | 4,9% | 6,4% | 457.346 | 517.169 | -11,6% |
| 8 | Daimler AG | 48.465 | 87.270 | -44,5% | 4,9% | 6,8% | 518.688 | 542.860 | -4,5% |
| 9 | Tesla Motors | 33.995 | 18.777 | 81,0% | 3,5% | 1,5% | 113.559 | 64.590 | 75,8% |
| 10 | Geely Group | 22.926 | 32.215 | -28,8% | 2,3% | 2,5% | 238.210 | 205.763 | 15,8% |
| 11 | Suzuki | 19.435 | 23.271 | -16,5% | 2,0% | 1,8% | 154.395 | 122.732 | 25,8% |
| 12 | Mazda | 18.190 | 19.946 | -8,8% | 1,8% | 1,5% | 125.860 | 105.275 | 19,6% |
| 13 | Tata Motors | 12.986 | 21.400 | -39,3% | 1,3% | 1,7% | 116.765 | 118.566 | -1,5% |
| 14 | Honda | 10.526 | 11.807 | -10,8% | 1,1% | 0,9% | 56.739 | 60.044 | -5,5% |
| 15 | SAIC | 6.076 | 4.112 | 47,8% | 0,6% | 0,3% | 35.108 | 17.168 | 104,5% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 2.207 | 2.097 | 5,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 15.546 | 13.412 | 15,9% |
| 17 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.267 | 1.193 | 6,2% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 8.182 | 8.331 | -1,8% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 219 | 221 | -0,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 1.574 | 1.158 | 35,9% |
| 19 | General Motors | 32 | 34 | -5,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 459 | 196 | 134,2% |
September 2021 Brands
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen loses market share again and so does Renault, but at least the French brand is back into second place after spending July at #11 and August at #7. Year-to-date, Renault is down 3 places on last year to 5th place. BMW gains market share and makes it three consecutive months on the European podium and it up 2 places year-to-date to 4th place. After two months in second place, Toyota drops to fourth place in September but holds on to its #3 spot YTD, up 4 spots. Kia and Hyundai are the only brands in the top-15 to grow year-on-year, and September makes it the first time ever that both South-Korean brands are in the European top-6. Last year, they were in 13th and 14th place each. Peugeot, Ford and Mercedes-Benz are the biggest losers in the top-20, all losing more than a third of their sales of last year. Opel/Vauxhall, Dacia and Citroën resist relatively well at -18.4%, -13.9% and -20.8% respectively, gaining market share, but Skoda, Audi and Fiat lose share.
Tesla is the best performing brand in the top-40 at +81%, moving up to 16th place while holding #22 year-to-date, up 3 spots on 2020. Other brands improving on September 2020 are SAIC MG (#26, +47.2%), DS (#30, +7.8%), Smart (#32, +4.8%) and Subaru (#34, +5.2%), as well as SsangYong (#38, +11.8%), DR Motor (#39, +79.4%), Maserati (#40, +27.3%) and Alpine (#43, +214.5%). Mazda and Honda also hold relatively well at -8.8% and -10.8% respectively, but Mini (#22, -45%), Jaguar (#31, -42.9%) and Alfa Romeo (#35, -48.5%) are in great difficulty.
| Brand | sep-21 | sep-20 | change | 2021 share | 2020 share | YTD rank | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 92.955 | 124.593 | -25,4% | 9,4% | 9,7% | 1 | 1.030.485 | 943.355 | 9,2% |
| 2 | Renault | 59.185 | 82.843 | -28,6% | 6,0% | 6,4% | 5 | 516.031 | 584.558 | -11,7% |
| 3 | BMW | 58.355 | 68.462 | -14,8% | 5,9% | 5,3% | 4 | 527.422 | 479.150 | 10,1% |
| 4 | Toyota | 54.901 | 73.026 | -24,8% | 5,6% | 5,7% | 3 | 542.730 | 462.874 | 17,3% |
| 5 | Kia | 50.875 | 48.423 | 5,1% | 5,2% | 3,8% | 13 | 371.611 | 316.925 | 17,3% |
| 6 | Hyundai | 50.163 | 48.734 | 2,9% | 5,1% | 3,8% | 11 | 375.244 | 304.824 | 23,1% |
| 7 | Peugeot | 50.047 | 76.298 | -34,4% | 5,1% | 5,9% | 2 | 565.507 | 535.876 | 5,5% |
| 8 | Ford | 48.579 | 82.587 | -41,2% | 4,9% | 6,4% | 9 | 457.344 | 517.167 | -11,6% |
| 9 | Mercedes-Benz | 45.324 | 84.273 | -46,2% | 4,6% | 6,5% | 6 | 492.702 | 528.496 | -6,8% |
| 10 | Opel/Vauxhall | 44.701 | 54.749 | -18,4% | 4,5% | 4,2% | 10 | 390.278 | 350.974 | 11,2% |
| 11 | Skoda | 42.587 | 63.534 | -33,0% | 4,3% | 4,9% | 7 | 475.513 | 461.672 | 3,0% |
| 12 | Audi | 42.206 | 61.192 | -31,0% | 4,3% | 4,7% | 8 | 475.323 | 432.395 | 9,9% |
| 13 | Dacia | 36.345 | 42.223 | -13,9% | 3,7% | 3,3% | 16 | 299.060 | 283.969 | 5,3% |
| 14 | Fiat | 35.745 | 52.709 | -32,2% | 3,6% | 4,1% | 12 | 372.515 | 337.477 | 10,4% |
| 15 | Citroën | 35.212 | 44.459 | -20,8% | 3,6% | 3,4% | 14 | 357.630 | 329.243 | 8,6% |
| 16 | Tesla | 33.995 | 18.777 | 81,0% | 3,5% | 1,5% | 22 | 113.559 | 64.590 | 75,8% |
| 17 | Seat & Cupra | 30.584 | 36.543 | -16,3% | 3,1% | 2,8% | 15 | 330.995 | 274.372 | 20,6% |
| 18 | Nissan | 25.930 | 35.864 | -27,7% | 2,6% | 2,8% | 18 | 198.543 | 211.311 | -6,0% |
| 19 | Volvo | 19.934 | 29.801 | -33,1% | 2,0% | 2,3% | 17 | 222.628 | 202.010 | 10,2% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 19.435 | 23.271 | -16,5% | 2,0% | 1,8% | 19 | 154.395 | 122.732 | 25,8% |
| 21 | Mazda | 18.190 | 19.946 | -8,8% | 1,8% | 1,5% | 21 | 125.860 | 105.275 | 19,6% |
| 22 | Mini | 11.997 | 21.823 | -45,0% | 1,2% | 1,7% | 20 | 128.168 | 123.706 | 3,6% |
| 23 | Jeep | 10.535 | 14.462 | -27,2% | 1,1% | 1,1% | 23 | 102.071 | 83.413 | 22,4% |
| 24 | Honda | 10.526 | 11.807 | -10,8% | 1,1% | 0,9% | 25 | 56.739 | 60.044 | -5,5% |
| 25 | Land Rover | 9.745 | 15.726 | -38,0% | 1,0% | 1,2% | 24 | 85.776 | 83.706 | 2,5% |
| 26 | SAIC MG | 6.052 | 4.112 | 47,2% | 0,6% | 0,3% | 30 | 34.853 | 17.168 | 103,0% |
| 27 | Mitsubishi | 5.665 | 9.018 | -37,2% | 0,6% | 0,7% | 26 | 53.518 | 81.695 | -34,5% |
| 28 | Lexus | 5.573 | 6.432 | -13,4% | 0,6% | 0,5% | 28 | 37.191 | 34.433 | 8,0% |
| 29 | Porsche | 4.827 | 5.598 | -13,8% | 0,5% | 0,4% | 27 | 52.122 | 51.047 | 2,1% |
| 30 | DS | 3.727 | 3.458 | 7,8% | 0,4% | 0,3% | 31 | 31.816 | 30.960 | 2,8% |
| 31 | Jaguar | 3.241 | 5.674 | -42,9% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 32 | 30.989 | 34.860 | -11,1% |
| 32 | Smart | 3.141 | 2.997 | 4,8% | 0,3% | 0,2% | 33 | 25.986 | 14.364 | 80,9% |
| 33 | Lancia | 2.961 | 4.701 | -37,0% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 29 | 35.410 | 29.380 | 20,5% |
| 34 | Subaru | 2.207 | 2.097 | 5,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 35 | 15.546 | 13.412 | 15,9% |
| 35 | Alfa Romeo | 2.104 | 4.084 | -48,5% | 0,2% | 0,3% | 34 | 19.376 | 24.436 | -20,7% |
| 36 | Polestar | 1.559 | 2.335 | -33,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 36 | 12.449 | 3.295 | 277,8% |
| 37 | Lynk & Co | 1.394 | 0 | New | 0,1% | 0,0% | 41 | 2.635 | 0 | New |
| 38 | SSangYong | 1.186 | 1.061 | 11,8% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 37 | 7.454 | 7.415 | 0,5% |
| 39 | DR Motor | 784 | 437 | 79,4% | 0,1% | 0,0% | 38 | 5.213 | 2.161 | 141,2% |
| 40 | Maserati | 429 | 337 | 27,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 40 | 3.074 | 2.348 | 30,9% |
| 41 | Bentley | 336 | 370 | -9,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 2.119 | 2.243 | -5,5% |
| 42 | Ferrari | 333 | 359 | -7,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 39 | 4.484 | 3.289 | 36,3% |
| 43 | Alpine | 239 | 76 | 214,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 1.522 | 874 | 74,1% |
| 44 | Aston Martin | 219 | 221 | -0,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 1.574 | 1.158 | 35,9% |
| 45 | Lamborghini | 175 | 135 | 29,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 1.800 | 1.495 | 20,4% |
| 46 | Lada | 134 | 68 | 97,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 1.192 | 1.901 | -37,3% |
| 47 | Aiways | 108 | 1 | 10700,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 589 | 46 | 1180,4% |
| 48 | Mahindra | 81 | 132 | -38,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 728 | 916 | -20,5% |
| 49 | Rolls Royce | 79 | 98 | -19,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 493 | 446 | 10,5% |
| 50 | Dodge | 71 | 125 | -43,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 704 | 760 | -7,4% |
| 51 | Great Wall | 68 | 50 | 36,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 656 | 286 | 129,4% |
| 52 | Genesis | 64 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 420 | 0 | New | |
| 53 | Lotus | 38 | 65 | -41,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 492 | 391 | 25,8% |
| 54 | BYD | 39 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 58 | 100 | 0 | New |
| 55 | Seres | 33 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 59 | 94 | 0 | New |
| 56 | Chevrolet | 32 | 30 | 6,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 309 | 150 | 106,0% |
| 57 | JAC | 26 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 61 | 67 | 0 | New | |
| 58 | Maxus | 24 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 255 | 0 | New |
| 59 | Xpeng | 13 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 295 | 0 | New |
| 60 | Nio | 9 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 62 | 31 | 0 | New | |
| 61 | Chrysler | 7 | 7 | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 60 | 67 | 65 | 3,1% |
| 62 | Infiniti | 2 | 1 | 100,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 64 | 7 | 323 | -97,8% |
| 63 | Geely | 1 | 14 | -92,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 65 | 6 | 67 | -91,0% |
| 64 | Bugatti | 1 | 1 | 0,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 63 | 18 | 18 | 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