SUV segments continue to surge, helped by VW, Lexus, Tesla

Europe's sales rebound this year have been particularly beneficial to SUVs.

The biggest winners among the 21 segments tracked by Automotive News Europe and market researcher Dataforce were the premium midsize SUV, volume midsize SUV and premium compact SUV segments, with gains through October of 42 percent, 35 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

The top model in the premium midsize SUV class, the Tesla Model Y, has increased its sales my more than 107,000 this year compared with the first 10 months of last year, resulting in a 142 percent increase.

The Audi Q4 E-tron has boosted sales 89 percent to 34,187. That is a gain of 16,110 compared with the first 10 months of last year, based on preliminary figures from Dataforce.

Another big winner in the segment has been the Lexus NX, which has rise into the category's top 10 because of an 82 percent sale increase to 16,746.

In the midsize/Large SUV category the Nissan X-Trail has boosted sales more than 2,000 percent to 20,929 compared with last year, according to data representing 92 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.

The VW ID4 is another bright spot. The full-electric midsize SUV recorded a 64 percent sales increase to 56,820. That's a gain of 22,169 sales compared with the first 10 months of 2022.

The premium compact SUV segment has gotten a big boost from two near entries. The BMW iX1 has increased sales to 29,537 from just 18 after 10 months last year and ranks No. 8 in the class.

The Alfa Romeo Tonale has entered the segments top 10 by increasing sales more than 300 percent to 26,650. That's a rise of 6,386 sales.

And the segment-leading Volvo XC40, despite being one of the older models in the category, is up 35 percent to 81,522 through October.

EVs remain hot

Big gains by the Model Y, the ID4 and MG 4 boosted overall European battery-electric vehicle sales by 45 percent to 1,437,881 through October.

That's a gain of 444,118 sales on the same period last year. On a percentage basis it is down from the 51 percent gain for EVs after eight months but in line with the increase seen after nine months.

Combined sales of the Model Y and Tesla Model 3 accounted for 17 percent of all battery-electric vehicle sales after 10 months. That is down slightly from 18 percent after seven months.

The MG4 has added 50,208 sales to the BEV total so far this year. The model from China's SAIC brand was the No. 4-selling BEV in Europe through October. The MG4 was at No. 8 in March.