Europe's fast-growing small SUV segment attracts new entrants from Ford, Toyota, Jeep and Skoda

Europe's mass-market small SUV segment is growing so rapidly that key players such as Ford, Jeep and Opel are doubling their model offerings. Last year the segment -- which continues to be led by the Renault Captur -- outpaced growth in all others except electric cars, with a 37 percent increase to 1.83 million units.

The boost given by new models such as the Volkswagen T-Roc, Citroen C3 Aircross and Seat Arona was such that small SUVs came close to passing the compact SUV segment, which recorded sales of 1.88 million units, according to figures from market analysts at JATO Dynamics.

The increase in popularity of small SUVs is such that they will briefly overtake compact variants as the most popular SUV segment in 2020, analyst firm LMC Automotive predicts.

Sales will rise to 1.99 million this year and 2.16 million in 2020, just ahead of compact SUVs, LMC forecasts. This comparison uses Automotive News Europe's segmentation -- which lists the VW T-Roc as a small rather than compact SUV, for example. In 2021, compact SUVs will be back in front -- but only just, LMC estimates.

The growth has prompted Ford to develop a second model, called Puma, which launches toward the end of the year. The Puma will be built alongside the EcoSport small crossover at Ford's factory in Craiova, Romania.

"SUVs are becoming so dominant that it makes sense to have more entries," Roelant de Waard, Ford's head of sales and marketing for Europe, told Automotive News Europe at the brand's recent unveiling of the new Kuga compact crossover. "You see others already going that way, for example with VW with the T-Roc and T-Cross."

The Puma brings some of the dynamism and sporty looks that helped to make Ford's Fiesta the biggest-selling small car in Europe and is expected to help replace some of the sales lost as the small-car segment declines.

The Puma, at about 4200mm long, also provides a bridge between the smaller EcoSport, which measures 4017mm, and the Kuga at 4613mm. "It's a very nice sweet spot between," de Waard said. "It's clearly bigger than the EcoSport. It's more crossover than SUV, more dynamic, so will appeal to a different customer." Pricing of the Puma will be closer to that of a compact hatchback, de Waard said. Ford has said it wants SUVs to account for nearly half of its passenger car sales, up from 27 percent last year.

Also planning to double up is Jeep, which has promised a second small SUV to launch before 2022. That new vehicle would sit below the Renegade, which finished last year in 11th place in the small SUV segment.

Opel has shown that having two models in the sector works. Last year it was the most successful brand in the segment, combining sales of the fifth-place Mokka X and the No. 8-selling Crossland X. Opel will replace the Mokka in 2020 with a model that it says will put more styling distance between the Mokka X and smaller Crossland X.

Skoda, Toyota entrants

Not everyone is in the sector yet. Skoda will launch the Kamiq into the segment in autumn after a pause following the cancellation of the Yeti. Meanwhile, Toyota is expected to add a small SUV at its plant in Valenciennes, France, either this year or early next to sit beneath the compact C-HR.

There will be change at the top, too. Renault is expected to launch a new version of the best-selling Captur early next year, while rival Peugeot is preparing a replacement for the successful 2008, which just got beaten for second place last year by the new Dacia Duster.

Also expected early next year is the long-awaited Nissan Juke, which last year sank to 13th position in the segment with sales of 67,647, down 29 percent. Nissan acknowledged it was late replacing this once segment-defining car, which led the sector in 2013.

"Obviously, it's time for a new one. It's a really important vehicle for us," Ken Ramirez, Nissan Europe's head of sales and marketing, told ANE. He said the new Juke would be revealed this year. The Juke also could receive the e-Power hybrid drivetrain that Nissan has said will be coming to unspecified European models.

Electric future

Electrification in the sector is rapidly increasing the closer the European industry gets to the launch of tougher fleet CO2 targets starting in 2020. While automakers find the cost of applying emissions technology and electrification to traditional small cars hard to justify, the price bump and consumer pull of small SUVs mean that the full range of electrification is about to be deployed in the sector.

Last year just 0.2 percent of small SUV sales were full electric (the Hyundai Kona EV), with no plug-in hybrids, but that is expected to change.

PSA Group is leading the charge on electric. PSA's Opel unit has said it will make a full-electric version of its new Mokka X in 2020, while Peugeot has announced it will make an electric 2008 with sales starting early next year. Citroen is also working on an electric version of its C3 Aircross. Last year the small SUV sector was 69 percent gasoline and 29 percent diesel, JATO figures show.