In January 2022, sales of passenger cars in Europe declined another 11.3% on a historically low January 2021, to just 742,600 units. The main driver of this continued decline is the supply shortages due to distruptions in the supply chain and a worldwide shortages in semiconductors. Among the five major markets, only Italy (-19.7%) and France (-18.6%) showed double digit declines, while Spain (+1.0%), Germany (+8.5%) and especially the UK (+27.5%) shows growth. Biggest gainers are Slovakia (+72.6%), Romania (+55.5%), Iceland (+52.7%) adn Cyprus (+32.0%), while the biggest losers are Greece (-28.9%), Norway (-22.8%), Italy and France.
Car models (hatchback, sedan, stationwagon, coupe and convertible) were outsold by crossovers for the second time in a row and ever as their sales drop 20.3% and their market share drops to a record low 46.4%. Crossovers and SUVs outperform at +1% and for the first time ever top 50% market share. MPV sales continue to decline at -27.8% to 3.4% share. Plug-in vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) reached new highs, with PHEVs up 9% and BEVs up 73% to a combined total of nearly 150,000 registrations, for a combined market share of 20.1%.
January 2022 Manufacturers
Volkswagen Group maintains its market share stable at 25% with sales down 11.5% while its closest rival Stellantis loses 1.3 percentage points to 20.2% and Renault-Nissan is down 13%, losing 0.2 percentage points of market share to 11.8%. Best performing manufacturer in the top-12 is Hyundai-Kia as they had a steady supply of semiconductors, allowing them to grow their sales by 14.7 and add 2.1 percentage points of market share to 9.1%, passing BMW AG which is down 10.3%. Toyota Motor also gains market share with sales down 9%, but Mercedes AG is down 17.6%, Ford Motor Company is down 23.3%, Geely Group is down 19.5%, Suzuki is down 27.3% and Tata Motors is down 22.2%.
Big winners among manufacturers are Mahindra & Mahindra with its SsangYong brand at +157.8%, SAIC at +146.2%, Honda at +44% and Aston Martin at +36.2%.
| Group | jan-22 | jan-21 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | 184.777 | 208.723 | -11,5% |
| 2 | Stellantis | 148.965 | 179.328 | -16,9% |
| 3 | Renault-Nissan | 87.333 | 100.439 | -13,0% |
| 4 | Hyundai-Kia | 66.915 | 58.357 | 14,7% |
| 5 | BMW AG | 57.642 | 64.286 | -10,3% |
| 6 | Toyota Motor | 52.440 | 57.619 | -9,0% |
| 7 | Mercedes AG | 44.009 | 53.388 | -17,6% |
| 8 | Ford Motor Comp. | 37.146 | 48.429 | -23,3% |
| 9 | Geely Group | 20.572 | 25.547 | -19,5% |
| 10 | Suzuki | 9.474 | 13.030 | -27,3% |
| 11 | Mazda | 9.301 | 8.356 | 11,3% |
| 12 | Tata Motors | 6.525 | 8.384 | -22,2% |
| 13 | Honda | 5.088 | 3.534 | 44,0% |
| 14 | SAIC | 4.976 | 2.021 | 146,2% |
| 15 | Mahindra & Mahindra | 1.807 | 701 | 157,8% |
| 16 | Subaru Corp. | 1.127 | 1.044 | 8,0% |
| 17 | Tesla Motors | 820 | 1.697 | -51,7% |
| 18 | Aston Martin | 188 | 138 | 36,2% |
| 19 | General Motors | 93 | 58 | 60,3% |
January 2022 Brands
In the brands ranking, VW keeps its share almost stable at 10.7% and easily holds on to the top spot, over 30,000 deliveries ahead of the #2 Toyota, down 8.6%. This is the third time ever the Japanese brand is in second place in Europe, after last July and August. Peugeot completes the podium despite sales down 21.3%. BMW remains the best selling luxury brand in fourth place, despite a 20.1% decline in deliveries, just ahead of Mercedes-Benz at -16.9% and Audi at +2.9%. Renault, Skoda and Ford continue to lose market share, while Kia, Dacia and Hyundai improve their sales on last year. Opel/Vauxhall gains market share at -9.9%, staying ahead of Fiat and Citroën. Biggest winners in the top-25 are Cupra (+43.4%), Mini (+40.6%) and Porsche (+34.3%), while the biggest losers are Seat (-33.9%), Nissan (-31%) and Suzuki (-27.3%).
Other great performers are SAIC MG (#27, +153.7%), SsangYong (#33, +171.6%), DR Motor (#35, +219.7%) and Alpine (#45, +139%), while Smart (#32, -31%) and Tesla (#40, -51.7%) are struggling. Tesla is even outsold by Polestar (#38, -5.5%) and Lynk & Co (#36, new). Lancia (#29, -19.4%) still outsells DS (#30, +13.3%) and Alfa Romeo (#34, -17.4%), while Lexus (#31, -15.4%) beats Jaguar (#37, -28.1%).
Among other Chinese newcomers, Hongqi does best at #46, ahead of BYD at #49, Aiways at #52, Xpeng at #56, Nio at #58 and Seres at #59.
| Brand | jan-22 | jan-21 | change | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 80.185 | 90.720 | -11,6% |
| 2 | Toyota | 49.643 | 54.312 | -8,6% |
| 3 | Peugeot | 48.260 | 61.298 | -21,3% |
| 4 | BMW | 43.032 | 53.884 | -20,1% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz | 42.200 | 50.766 | -16,9% |
| 6 | Audi | 41.071 | 39.899 | 2,9% |
| 7 | Renault | 39.199 | 48.488 | -19,2% |
| 8 | Skoda | 38.483 | 46.338 | -17,0% |
| 9 | Ford | 37.146 | 48.428 | -23,3% |
| 10 | Kia | 36.078 | 30.230 | 19,3% |
| 11 | Dacia | 30.874 | 28.363 | 8,9% |
| 12 | Hyundai | 30.764 | 28.126 | 9,4% |
| 13 | Opel/Vauxhall | 30.611 | 33.985 | -9,9% |
| 14 | Fiat | 28.386 | 32.947 | -13,8% |
| 15 | Citroën | 24.710 | 32.877 | -24,8% |
| 16 | Volvo | 17.926 | 24.203 | -25,9% |
| 17 | Seat | 16.967 | 25.661 | -33,9% |
| 18 | Mini | 14.545 | 10.345 | 40,6% |
| 19 | Nissan | 13.313 | 19.283 | -31,0% |
| 20 | Suzuki | 9.474 | 13.030 | -27,3% |
| 21 | Mazda | 9.301 | 8.356 | 11,3% |
| 22 | Jeep | 8.815 | 9.274 | -4,9% |
| 23 | Porsche | 7.515 | 5.595 | 34,3% |
| 24 | Cupra | 5.458 | 3.805 | 43,4% |
| 25 | Land Rover | 5.233 | 6.588 | -20,6% |
| 26 | Honda | 5.088 | 3.534 | 44,0% |
| 27 | SAIC MG | 4.950 | 1.951 | 153,7% |
| 28 | Mitsubishi | 3.597 | 4.165 | -13,6% |
| 29 | Lancia | 3.269 | 4.054 | -19,4% |
| 30 | DS | 3.071 | 2.710 | 13,3% |
| 31 | Lexus | 2.797 | 3.307 | -15,4% |
| 32 | Smart | 1.809 | 2.622 | -31,0% |
| 33 | SSangYong | 1.752 | 645 | 171,6% |
| 34 | Alfa Romeo | 1.513 | 1.832 | -17,4% |
| 35 | DR Motor | 1.461 | 457 | 219,7% |
| 36 | Lynk & Co | 1.346 | 1 | 134500,0% |
| 37 | Jaguar | 1.292 | 1.796 | -28,1% |
| 38 | Polestar | 1.224 | 1.295 | -5,5% |
| 39 | Subaru | 1.127 | 1.044 | 8,0% |
| 40 | Tesla | 820 | 1.697 | -51,7% |
| 41 | Bentley | 376 | 256 | 46,9% |
| 42 | Maserati | 311 | 331 | -6,0% |
| 43 | Ferrari | 279 | 271 | 3,0% |
| 44 | Aston Martin | 188 | 138 | 36,2% |
| 45 | Alpine | 184 | 77 | 139,0% |
| 46 | Hongqi | 175 | 0 | New |
| 47 | Lamborghini | 174 | 184 | -5,4% |
| 48 | Lada | 166 | 62 | 167,7% |
| 49 | BYD | 96 | 0 | New |
| 50 | Lotus | 76 | 47 | 61,7% |
| 51 | Genesis | 73 | 1 | 7200,0% |
| 52 | Aiways | 67 | 69 | -2,9% |
| 53 | Alpina | 67 | 63 | 6,3% |
| 54 | Rolls Royce | 65 | 57 | 14,0% |
| 55 | Chevrolet | 63 | 27 | 133,3% |
| 56 | Xpeng | 63 | 9 | 600,0% |
| 57 | Mahindra | 55 | 56 | -1,8% |
| 58 | Nio | 55 | 0 | New |
| 59 | Seres | 31 | 0 | New |
| 60 | Cadillac | 30 | 28 | 7,1% |
| 61 | Great Wall | 26 | 50 | -48,0% |
| 62 | Maxus | 26 | 70 | -62,9% |
| 63 | Morgan | 20 | 16 | 25,0% |
| 64 | Dodge | 13 | 11 | 18,2% |
| 65 | JAC | 11 | 2 | 450,0% |
| 66 | Chrysler | 3 | 9 | -66,7% |
| 67 | Bugatti | 1 | 2 | -50,0% |
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