The European passenger car market is going down a sliding scale after dropping 5.5% in February and 17.9% in March, deliveries dropped by 21.1% in April 2022. Of course, the supply shortages are still causing most of these declines and they’re expected to upset the industry for at least the entire rest of the year. The inflationary crisis and geopolitical situation don’t help much either. All major markets contributed to the region’s negative performance: Italy (-33%), France (-22.6%), Germany (-21.5%), United Kingdom (-15.8%) and Spain (-12.1%). Among smaller markets, the only bright spots were Iceland (+79.6%), Romania (+23.4%), Ireland (+10%), Croatia (+2.7%) and Sweden (+0.3%).
Car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) had never been outsold by crossovers before 2022, but they have been in each of the four months so far. And in April, crossovers and SUVs had a lead of nearly 50,000 deliveries, an absolute record. This is caused by a 27.9% drop in deliveries for cars which now hold a record low 45.1% share of the market, while crossovers are down just 10.9% and see their share rise to a record 51%. Meanwhile, MPVs are down 35.3% to hold just 3.9% market share. Until so far, EVs and Plug-in Hybrids had been able to weather the storm better than ICE vehicles and therefore grow their market share significantly. However, in April sales of electrified vehicles also declined, albeit by a smaller margin than the overall market. They were down by 1.4% to 154,200 for a share of 18.8%, still better than the 14.9% they held in April 2021. And the decline could be fully attributed to PHEVs which were down 15% as EVs were actually up 13%.
April 2022 Manufacturers
Volkswagen Group loses market share again at 23.3% with sales down 31.4% while its closest rival Stellantis loses even more at -35.6% to a 19.3% share and Renault-Nissan is the best performer in the top-3, down just 15.3% and gaining a full percentage points of market share to 11.6%. Hyundai-Kia beats them all as the only top-12 manufacturer to improve on last year with sales up an impressive 13.3% to gain 3.3 percentage points of market share, now just 1.1 percentage points away from a top-3 position. The South-Koreans distance BMW AG (-18.3%) and Toyota Motor Company (-7.1%), both beating the market. The latter moves ahead of Mercedes AG, down 23.2%. Ford Motor Company moves with the market down 20.2%, while Geely gains share at -10.6% but Tata Motors loses share at -34.6%. So do Mazda (-26.5%) and Suzuki, the worst performing manufacturer at -41.6%. SAIC continues its exponantial rise in Europe. After hitting new monthly sales (12,549 deliveries) and market share (1.1%) records in March, the Chinese more than triple their April sales and outsell Honda for the second consecutive month. And the Japanese manufacturer is up 16.5%, not a bad performance at all. As this is the first month of a new quarter, Tesla is way down the ranking again, but at least its deliveries are up 6.5% on last year. Mahindra & Mahindra is up 81.6% to outsell Subaru (-25.8%).
| Group | apr-22 | apr-21 | change | 2022 share | 2021 share | YTD 2022 | YTD 2021 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 192.208 | 280.099 | -31,4% | 23,3% | 26,3% | 814.594 | 1.036.477 | -21,4% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 159.070 | 246.961 | -35,6% | 19,3% | 23,2% | 680.461 | 917.932 | -25,9% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 95.938 | 113.319 | -15,3% | 11,6% | 10,6% | 400.563 | 468.159 | -14,4% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 86.366 | 76.233 | 13,3% | 10,5% | 7,2% | 336.725 | 288.475 | 16,7% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 63.528 | 77.801 | -18,3% | 7,7% | 7,3% | 260.633 | 302.267 | -13,8% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 59.499 | 64.047 | -7,1% | 7,2% | 6,0% | 243.000 | 256.985 | -5,4% |
| 7 | Mercedes AG | 50.233 | 65.376 | -23,2% | 6,1% | 6,1% | 211.545 | 255.384 | -17,2% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 43.829 | 54.892 | -20,2% | 5,3% | 5,2% | 182.536 | 220.636 | -17,3% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 23.934 | 26.776 | -10,6% | 2,9% | 2,5% | 97.957 | 118.886 | -17,6% |
| 10 | Tata Motors | 11.166 | 17.079 | -34,6% | 1,4% | 1,6% | 36.157 | 61.243 | -41,0% |
| 11 | Mazda | 10.249 | 13.940 | -26,5% | 1,2% | 1,3% | 45.763 | 49.110 | -6,8% |
| 12 | Suzuki | 9.445 | 16.170 | -41,6% | 1,1% | 1,5% | 44.670 | 63.699 | -29,9% |
| 13 | SAIC | 7.538 | 2.336 | 222,7% | 0,9% | 0,2% | 28.650 | 10.891 | 163,1% |
| 14 | Honda | 7.128 | 6.121 | 16,5% | 0,9% | 0,6% | 25.226 | 20.448 | 23,4% |
| 15 | Tesla Motors | 1.724 | 1.619 | 6,5% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 60.818 | 32.389 | 87,8% |
| 16 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.467 | 808 | 81,6% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 5.779 | 3.260 | 77,3% |
| 17 | Subaru Corp. | 1.224 | 1.649 | -25,8% | 0,1% | 0,2% | 5.642 | 6.458 | -12,6% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 164 | 157 | 4,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 757 | 719 | 5,3% |
| 19 | General Motors | 80 | 82 | -2,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 346 | 280 | 23,6% |
April 2022 Brands
In the brands ranking, VW is down to just 10% share but easily holds on to the top spot despite being the worst performing brand in the top-5. Toyota celebrates a fourth consecutive month (and fifth time ever) in second place with sales down 5.7%. The top-5 is completed by the three premium brands with BMW on the overall podium at -16%, followed by Mercedes-Benz at -22.3% and Audi at -17.5%. Peugeot is the worst performing brand in the top-10 at -35.6% and is under threat from Kia, up 12.9% in 7th place. Together with its sister brand Hyundai (+13.4%) they are the only brands in the top-12 to improve on last year. Ford is down to 8th place at -20.2%, and therefore beats the market and rivals like Renault (-30.7%), Skoda (-33.3%) and Fiat (-45.1%). Dacia sells 4.6% more vehicles than it did in April 2021, which allows it to jump past Opel/Vauxhall (-34%) and Citroën (-30.7%). Nissan outperforms the market at -8.2% and moves ahead of Volvo (-23.6%) and Seat (-48.9%), the worst performing brand in the top-50. Its sister brand Cupra more than doubles its sales and is now just three places behind at #21. Suzuki is also one of the big losers at -41.6%, while Land Rover (-29.9%) and Jeep (-27.6%) lose share as well. MG outsells Honda and Mitsubishi despite increased sales for both Japanese brands. DS also improves at +13.5%. Polestar (+52.5%) outsells Lexus (-30.3%) and Lynk & Co is closing in on Jaguar (-48%). Big surprise this month is SsangYong, more than doubling its sales on last year, despite being on the brink of bankruptcy.
DR Motor also continues its rise by more than doubling its sales. Other Chinese brands all multiply their sales figures as well but remain niche players for now: Hongqi (#47, new), Xpeng (#48, +477%), Maxus (#50, +409%), BYD (#51, new), Nio (#52, +4,000%), Seres (#55, +1,525%). Aiways (#59, -86%) is a long way from its goal of selling 10,000 cars in Europe this year. In the first 4 months, they delivered fewer than 200.
| Brand | apr-22 | apr-21 | change | 2022 share | 2021 share | YTD rank | YTD 2022 | YTD 2021 | change | Month Change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 83.613 | 126.073 | -33,7% | 10,0% | 11,8% | 1 | 350.873 | 461.003 | -23,9% | -42.460 |
| 2 | Toyota | 57.025 | 60.498 | -5,7% | 6,8% | 5,6% | 2 | 230.426 | 241.557 | -4,6% | -3.473 |
| 3 | BMW | 51.936 | 61.858 | -16,0% | 6,2% | 5,8% | 4 | 204.796 | 242.201 | -15,4% | -9.922 |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz | 48.060 | 61.886 | -22,3% | 5,7% | 5,8% | 5 | 202.757 | 242.537 | -16,4% | -13.826 |
| 5 | Audi | 47.285 | 57.289 | -17,5% | 5,6% | 5,3% | 6 | 195.863 | 209.478 | -6,5% | -10.004 |
| 6 | Peugeot | 45.997 | 71.380 | -35,6% | 5,5% | 6,7% | 3 | 205.974 | 286.345 | -28,1% | -25.383 |
| 7 | Kia | 45.388 | 40.189 | 12,9% | 5,4% | 3,8% | 8 | 179.032 | 147.628 | 21,3% | 5.199 |
| 8 | Ford | 43.829 | 54.891 | -20,2% | 5,2% | 5,1% | 7 | 182.536 | 220.634 | -17,3% | -11.062 |
| 9 | Hyundai | 40.851 | 36.014 | 13,4% | 4,9% | 3,4% | 11 | 157.244 | 140.801 | 11,7% | 4.837 |
| 10 | Renault | 39.354 | 56.759 | -30,7% | 4,7% | 5,3% | 9 | 174.132 | 229.078 | -24,0% | -17.405 |
| 11 | Skoda | 37.792 | 56.630 | -33,3% | 4,5% | 5,3% | 10 | 162.207 | 215.413 | -24,7% | -18.838 |
| 12 | Fiat | 34.190 | 62.254 | -45,1% | 4,1% | 5,8% | 13 | 134.757 | 192.715 | -30,1% | -28.064 |
| 13 | Dacia | 30.987 | 29.637 | 4,6% | 3,7% | 2,8% | 14 | 130.819 | 118.065 | 10,8% | 1.350 |
| 14 | Opel/Vauxhall | 30.880 | 46.787 | -34,0% | 3,7% | 4,4% | 12 | 139.398 | 179.572 | -22,4% | -15.907 |
| 15 | Citroën | 30.165 | 43.514 | -30,7% | 3,6% | 4,1% | 15 | 125.583 | 171.458 | -26,8% | -13.349 |
| 16 | Nissan | 19.266 | 20.982 | -8,2% | 2,3% | 2,0% | 18 | 74.249 | 98.561 | -24,7% | -1.716 |
| 17 | Volvo | 19.028 | 24.908 | -23,6% | 2,3% | 2,3% | 16 | 83.161 | 112.782 | -26,3% | -5.880 |
| 18 | Seat | 17.166 | 33.590 | -48,9% | 2,1% | 3,1% | 17 | 75.653 | 124.195 | -39,1% | -16.424 |
| 19 | Mini | 11.530 | 15.888 | -27,4% | 1,4% | 1,5% | 20 | 55.551 | 59.828 | -7,1% | -4.358 |
| 20 | Mazda | 10.249 | 13.940 | -26,5% | 1,2% | 1,3% | 21 | 45.763 | 49.110 | -6,8% | -3.691 |
| 21 | Cupra | 10.169 | 4.733 | 114,9% | 1,2% | 0,4% | 24 | 33.811 | 17.958 | 88,3% | 5.436 |
| 22 | Suzuki | 9.445 | 16.170 | -41,6% | 1,1% | 1,5% | 22 | 44.670 | 63.699 | -29,9% | -6.725 |
| 23 | Land Rover | 8.861 | 12.647 | -29,9% | 1,1% | 1,2% | 27 | 27.571 | 46.938 | -41,3% | -3.786 |
| 24 | Jeep | 8.640 | 11.934 | -27,6% | 1,0% | 1,1% | 23 | 37.102 | 46.144 | -19,6% | -3.294 |
| 25 | SAIC MG | 7.426 | 2.314 | 220,9% | 0,9% | 0,2% | 25 | 28.369 | 10.707 | 165,0% | 5.112 |
| 26 | Honda | 7.128 | 6.121 | 16,5% | 0,9% | 0,6% | 28 | 25.226 | 20.448 | 23,4% | 1.007 |
| 27 | Mitsubishi | 5.950 | 5.622 | 5,8% | 0,7% | 0,5% | 29 | 19.787 | 21.457 | -7,8% | 328 |
| 28 | Porsche | 5.771 | 5.996 | -3,8% | 0,7% | 0,6% | 26 | 27.717 | 24.410 | 13,5% | -225 |
| 29 | DS | 3.981 | 3.506 | 13,5% | 0,5% | 0,3% | 30 | 15.392 | 13.462 | 14,3% | 475 |
| 30 | Lancia | 2.764 | 5.202 | -46,9% | 0,3% | 0,5% | 31 | 13.539 | 18.234 | -25,7% | -2.438 |
| 31 | Polestar | 2.640 | 1.731 | 52,5% | 0,3% | 0,2% | 33 | 9.103 | 5.813 | 56,6% | 909 |
| 32 | Lexus | 2.474 | 3.549 | -30,3% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 32 | 12.574 | 15.428 | -18,5% | -1.075 |
| 33 | Jaguar | 2.305 | 4.432 | -48,0% | 0,3% | 0,4% | 35 | 8.586 | 14.305 | -40,0% | -2.127 |
| 34 | Lynk & Co | 2.239 | 84 | 2565,5% | 0,3% | 0,0% | 40 | 5.475 | 86 | 6266,3% | 2.155 |
| 35 | Smart | 2.173 | 3.490 | -37,7% | 0,3% | 0,3% | 34 | 8.788 | 12.847 | -31,6% | -1.317 |
| 36 | Alfa Romeo | 2.090 | 2.054 | 1,8% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 36 | 7.279 | 8.555 | -14,9% | 36 |
| 37 | Tesla | 1.724 | 1.619 | 6,5% | 0,2% | 0,2% | 19 | 60.818 | 32.389 | 87,8% | 105 |
| 38 | SSangYong | 1.464 | 696 | 110,3% | 0,2% | 0,1% | 38 | 5.676 | 2.923 | 94,2% | 768 |
| 39 | Subaru | 1.224 | 1.649 | -25,8% | 0,1% | 0,2% | 39 | 5.642 | 6.458 | -12,6% | -425 |
| 40 | DR Motor | 1.207 | 567 | 112,9% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 37 | 5.747 | 2.167 | 165,2% | 640 |
| 41 | Ferrari | 537 | 1.036 | -48,2% | 0,1% | 0,1% | 41 | 1.742 | 2.292 | -24,0% | -499 |
| 42 | Maserati | 340 | 295 | 15,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 42 | 1.351 | 1.336 | 1,1% | 45 |
| 43 | Bentley | 331 | 218 | 51,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 43 | 1.342 | 896 | 49,8% | 113 |
| 44 | Alpine | 312 | 152 | 105,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 44 | 956 | 523 | 82,8% | 160 |
| 45 | Lamborghini | 245 | 246 | -0,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 45 | 917 | 845 | 8,5% | -1 |
| 46 | Aston Martin | 164 | 157 | 4,5% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 46 | 757 | 719 | 5,3% | 7 |
| 47 | Hongqi | 155 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 47 | 739 | 0 | New | 155 |
| 48 | Xpeng | 150 | 26 | 476,9% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 50 | 426 | 151 | 182,1% | 124 |
| 49 | Genesis | 127 | 30 | 323,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 49 | 449 | 46 | 876,1% | 97 |
| 50 | Maxus | 112 | 22 | 409,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 54 | 281 | 184 | 52,7% | 90 |
| 51 | BYD | 102 | 0 | New | 0,0% | 0,0% | 51 | 393 | 0 | New | 102 |
| 52 | Nio | 82 | 2 | 4000,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 52 | 327 | 2 | +++ | 80 |
| 53 | Lada | 69 | 167 | -58,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 48 | 619 | 472 | 31,1% | -98 |
| 54 | Morgan | 67 | 41 | 63,4% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 58 | 185 | 128 | 44,5% | 26 |
| 55 | Seres | 65 | 4 | 1525,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 59 | 142 | 7 | 1928,6% | 61 |
| 56 | Rolls Royce | 62 | 55 | 12,7% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 53 | 286 | 238 | 20,2% | 7 |
| 57 | Chevrolet | 56 | 43 | 30,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 55 | 224 | 130 | 72,3% | 13 |
| 58 | McLaren | 37 | 68 | -45,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 60 | 141 | 256 | -44,9% | -31 |
| 59 | Aiways | 28 | 200 | -86,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 57 | 198 | 325 | -39,1% | -172 |
| 60 | Lotus | 27 | 52 | -48,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 56 | 218 | 200 | 9,0% | -25 |
| 61 | Cadillac | 24 | 38 | -36,8% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 61 | 120 | 143 | -16,1% | -14 |
| 62 | Dodge | 19 | 32 | -40,6% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 63 | 55 | 82 | -32,9% | -13 |
| 63 | Great Wall | 12 | 76 | -84,2% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 64 | 53 | 275 | -80,7% | -64 |
| 64 | Caterham Super 7 | 12 | 11 | 9,1% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 65 | 45 | 41 | 9,8% | 1 |
| 65 | Bugatti | 5 | 4 | 25,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 68 | 10 | 10 | 0,0% | 1 |
| 66 | Chrysler | 4 | 2 | 100,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 67 | 26 | 22 | 18,2% | 2 |
| 67 | Mahindra | 3 | 112 | -97,3% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 62 | 103 | 337 | -69,4% | -109 |
| 68 | JAC | 3 | 6 | -50,0% | 0,0% | 0,0% | 66 | 39 | 27 | 44,4% | -3 |
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