Increased deliveries of the Tesla Model Y, following its launch last year, pushed it to the top of the premium midsize SUV category, overtaking the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Volvo XC60.
Electric cars now lead three segments in Europe, according to sales data from the first three months.
Two of the three were topped by Europe’s EV leader, Tesla.
Increased deliveries of the Tesla Model Y, following its launch last year, pushed it to the top of the premium midsize SUV category, overtaking the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Volvo XC60, the segment’s leader for the same period the year before, according to figures from market researchers Dataforce.
The Model Y joins the Model 3 sedan at the top of a key segment. The Model 3 led the midsize premium segment ahead of the second-placed BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class in third after the first three months.
Porsche continues to lead the luxury sedan segment with the full-electric Taycan, which beat the Mercedes S-Class. However, the Taycan’s lead could be in jeopardy because rival electric models are steadily moving up the ranking with the Audi e-tron GT in third and Mercedes EQS in fourth.
The small SUV segment managed to grow in an overall market that was down by 11 percent in part because of the addition of the new Toyota Yaris Cross.
Small SUVs No. 1
The largest segment for the first quarter of the year was small SUVs. With sales up 1.5 percent to 476,242, small SUVs overtook small cars.
The small SUV segment managed to grow in an overall market that was down by 11 percent in part because of the addition of the new Toyota Yaris Cross, which entered in fifth place just behind the Renault Captur, and the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, which boosted sales more than 400 percent to place seventh.
An 11 percent sales rise for the No. 8-ranked Hyundai Kona also helped offset a steep 25 percent decline for the segment leading Peugeot 2008, a 23 percent dip for the No. 4 Captur and a 25 percent decrease for the VW T-Roc, which slumped to sixth place from third place during the same period last year.
Small cars slide
No such boosts were available for the small car segment, which tumbled 20 percent to 407,336 sales.
Declines were seen across all models in the top 10 except for the second-place Dacia Sandero, which rose 16 percent to finish just behind the Peugeot 208.
Despite the 208’s 15 percent drop, it was still Europe’s best-seller during the quarter, with the Sandero finishing the first three months as the region’s No. 2-seller overall.
The Volkswagen Golf, Europe’s best-seller during the first quarter of last year, was third after sales slumped 20 percent to 46,578.
The small car segment just managed to stay ahead of compact SUVs, which slipped by 3.9 percent to 404,288.
Compact SUVs were boosted by strong performances from the segment-leading Hyundai Tucson (shown) and the new Kia Sportage.
Compact SUVs were boosted by strong performances from the segment-leading Hyundai Tucson, up 10 percent, the new Kia Sportage, up 37 percent, and the Cupra Formentor, which more than doubled sales to finish the quarter at No. 9. The new Renault Arkana was 10th.
The VW Tiguan, which led the compact SUV segment through three months last year, suffered a 31 percent decline leaving it at No. 6. The Tiguan was hit by production issue at VW’s Wolfsburg plant during the quarter.
The new Nissan Qashqai fell 32 percent to eighth as the automaker slowly ramped up deliveries of the new-generation model.
Compact segment suffers
Compacts slumped to become Europe’s No. 4 segment after a long run as the region’s third-largest category.
The overall segment fell 18 percent during the quarter after sales of the Golf and the Ford Focus each dropped by one-fifth.
Demand for the segment’s No. 3 model, the Skoda Octavia, fell by more than one-third, providing an indication of how hard supply shortages have hit the Czech company. Waiting lists for the Octavia are more than a year, the brand has said.
The Skoda Kodiaq midsize SUV was less affected, with sales down 7.6 percent in the quarter, leaving it at the top of segment ahead of the Peugeot 5008.
The midsize SUV segment, more than any other thus far, is shifting to full-electric models helped by a surge of new entrants. This is happening because models of this size have appeal beyond Europe. Car buyers have rewarded automakers that have debuted new EVs in the segment as the VW ID4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Skoda Enyaq iV and Kia EV6 took the No. 3 through No. 6 slots, respectively, in the top 10. The fresh models helped boost the overall segment by 17 percent.
Sales of minicars dropped 30 percent in the quarter as automaker reduced production of combustion-powered models. In addition, the presence of electric modes in the segment is growing, led by the Fiat New 500 at No. 4. The battery-powered 500 was also Europe’s No. 3-selling EV during the quarter with sales of 13,663 (see table, below).
Overall sales of electric cars grew 61 percent in the quarter to 326,081. That pushed them ahead of plug-in hybrids, which saw sales fall 6.8 percent to 236,048. The best-selling plug-in hybrid was the Ford Kuga at 11,543, followed by the Peugeot 3008 and Volvo XC40 (see table, below).
Some automakers have been hit much harder than the average market decline in the first quarter across Europe.
Land Rover’s sales tumbled 45 percent, while Nissan was down 26 percent.
VW Group’s volume brands were also hard hit, with Seat down 34 percent, and both VW and Skoda falling 19 percent.
VW Group’s premium brands fared much better, with Cupra up 81 percent, Bentley rising 50 percent and Porsche increasing sales 22 percent. Those figures suggest the brands are being prioritized for parts in short supply such as semiconductors.
