The small crossover and SUV segment is the third largest segment in Europe, behind the subcompact and compact cars, and ahead of the compact crossovers. In the first quarter of 2020 sales were down 15% to just under 547,500 units, and as a result the segment’s share of the European car market improves from 13.8% in Q1 of 2019 to 15.8% in the same period this year. If the current trend continues, small crossovers will become Europe’s biggest segment in a few years time.
As it did last year, the Volkswagen T-Roc steals the top spot in the first quarter from the full-year winner Renault Captur, but this year the gap has grown a little, as sales of the German crossover are down 32% and the Frenchman down 39%. That means both are losing over 2 percentage points of share of the segment as a continued onslaught of new entrants arrives. In third place we find a surprise with the Volkswagen T-Cross taking its first podium place, allowing Volkswagen Group to dominate the segment to which it was fashionably late with a 27.3% share, ahead of PSA at 18.2% (24% after the merger with FCA), Renault-Nissan at 17.4% and Hyundai-Kia at 15.3%.
The Dacia Duster is kicked off the segment podium with sales down by almost half, while the Hyundai Kona is up 6% to move up to an impressive 5th place. The Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X is PSA’s best seller in this segment ahead of the recently renewed Peugeot 2008 and the Citroën C3 Aircross, both of which fall more than double the segment average while the Crossland beats the segment. The Seat Arona snuggles in between the two French crossovers with sales down just 5%. The all-new Ford Puma lands at #10, just ahead of the Ford EcoSport, down 42%, and ahead of the next best newcomer Skoda Kamiq. The Kia Niro and Kia Stonic both sell slightly more than they did in the first quarter of last year, moving past the Nissan Juke which has just been renewed for the second generation. The Korean brand’s third model in this segment, the Ceed based Kia Xceed lands at #19, while the Kia Soul grows its deliveries by 45% but is far below in 29th place. FCA’s twins Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade are struggling due to their reliance on the Italian market which locked down in the second half of March. The Suzuki Vitara loses more than half of its sales and the Citroën C4 Cactus is down by an alost similar figure, as does the Suzuki S-Cross. That allows the Mitsubishi ASX to move past despite a 25% drop in deliveries. The MG ZS is the big winner of the segment, more than doubling its sales thanks to the addition of the all-electric version that’s now on sale outside the UK as well.
Luxury brands have not stormed this class just yet and make up just 7.1% of the segment, up from 6.7% in Q1 of 2019 and 6.4% for the full year. Just three models compete in this subsegment, of which the Audi Q2 manages to hold its top spot with sales down by 25%, giving it a 13th place overall. The Mini Countryman is down 22% to an overall 20th place while the DS3 Crossback lands at #24. The latter’s optional EV version should help the French crossover climb the ranking in 2020.
| Small SUV segment | 2020-Q1 | 2019-Q1 | Change | 2020 share | 2019 share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen T-Roc | 39.885 | 58.280 | -32% | 8,3% | 10,4% |
| 2 | Renault Captur | 34.500 | 56.352 | -39% | 7,2% | 10,0% |
| 3 | Volkswagen T-Cross | 31.339 | 815 | 3745% | 6,5% | 0,1% |
| 4 | Dacia Duster | 28.277 | 55.645 | -49% | 5,9% | 9,9% |
| 5 | Hyundai Kona | 26.959 | 25.351 | 6% | 5,6% | 4,5% |
| 6 | Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X | 26.335 | 30.108 | -13% | 5,5% | 5,3% |
| 7 | Peugeot 2008 | 24.914 | 45.014 | -45% | 5,2% | 8,0% |
| 8 | Seat Arona | 24.832 | 26.271 | -5% | 5,2% | 4,7% |
| 9 | Citroën C3 Aircross | 21.898 | 34.556 | -37% | 4,6% | 6,1% |
| 10 | Ford Puma | 18.713 | 0 | New | 3,9% | 0,0% |
| 11 | Ford Ecosport | 18.272 | 31.596 | -42% | 3,8% | 5,6% |
| 12 | Skoda Kamiq | 17.950 | 0 | New | 3,7% | 0,0% |
| 13 | Audi Q2 | 16.931 | 22.639 | -25% | 3,5% | 4,0% |
| 14 | Kia Niro | 16.178 | 15.163 | 7% | 3,4% | 2,7% |
| 15 | Kia Stonic | 15.298 | 15.275 | 0% | 3,2% | 2,7% |
| 16 | Nissan Juke | 14.947 | 19.179 | -22% | 3,1% | 3,4% |
| 17 | Fiat 500X | 14.197 | 24.719 | -43% | 3,0% | 4,4% |
| 18 | Jeep Renegade | 13.725 | 19.121 | -28% | 2,9% | 3,4% |
| 19 | Kia Xceed | 13.017 | 0 | New | 2,7% | 0,0% |
| 20 | Mini Countryman | 11.478 | 14.722 | -22% | 2,4% | 2,6% |
| 21 | Suzuki Vitara | 9.441 | 19.653 | -52% | 2,0% | 3,5% |
| 22 | Citroën C4 Cactus | 8.261 | 15.162 | -46% | 1,7% | 2,7% |
| 23 | Mitsubishi ASX | 5.986 | 7.932 | -25% | 1,2% | 1,4% |
| 24 | DS3 Crossback | 5.825 | 557 | 946% | 1,2% | 0,1% |
| 25 | Suzuki S-Cross | 4.423 | 8.727 | -49% | 0,9% | 1,6% |
| 26 | Honda HR-V | 4.193 | 5.911 | -29% | 0,9% | 1,1% |
| 27 | MG ZS | 4.112 | 1.811 | 127% | 0,9% | 0,3% |
| 28 | Suzuki Jimny | 3.854 | 3.913 | -2% | 0,8% | 0,7% |
| 29 | Kia Soul | 2.204 | 1.517 | 45% | 0,5% | 0,3% |
| 30 | SsangYong Tivoli | 887 | 1.500 | -41% | 0,2% | 0,3% |
| 31 | Lada Niva | 512 | 636 | -19% | 0,1% | 0,1% |
| 32 | Mahindra KUV100 | 300 | 253 | 19% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 33 | DR3 | 243 | 225 | 8% | 0,1% | 0,0% |
| 34 | DR4 | 223 | 211 | 6% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| 35 | Mazda CX-3 | 109 | 18.025 | -99% | 0,0% | 3,2% |
| 36 | SsangYong XLV | 71 | 565 | -87% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| 37 | Opel/Vauxhall Mokka | 68 | 28.005 | -99% | 0,0% | 5,0% |
| 38 | Suzuki SX4 | 3 | 5 | -40% | 0,0% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 480.109 | 562.814 | -15% |
Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.