SUVs rise, hatchbacks fall in ranking of Europe's top 50 sellers

The Hyundai Tucson compact SUV posted the highest percentage-based sales increase of any model in Europe last year, finishing just ahead of the Tesla Model 3, new data shows.

Tucson sales rose 65 percent to 149,786, placing it 13th on the list of the Europe's top 50 sellers, according to figures from Dataforce.

The Tucson, launched at late 2020, fulfilled the high expectations that Hyundai had for the model, which finished 2021 as Europe's top-selling compact SUV

Three other compact SUVs were among the biggest winners in the top 50 based on sales percentage increases. They were the Ford Kuga (+35 percent), Kia Sportage (+28 percent) and the Toyota RAV4 (+16 percent).

The Tucson topped the Tesla Model 3, which increased sales 62 percent to finish 17th overall. The Model 3 was Europe's best-seller in December as well as September, Dataforce figures show.

SUVs prioritized during chip crisis

SUVs benefited from decisions by automakers to favored them over less profitable body types such as hatchbacks and station wagons.

“Many automakers have prioritized higher-margin models, which may have accelerated trends toward SUV and EV sales,” LMC Automotive senior analyst Sammy Chan said.

One of the biggest losers in terms of sales was the Volkswagen Golf. VW had to pause Golf production multiple times at its Wolfsburg factory because the chip shortage prevented normal output. Despite this, the compact hatchback managed to retain its top spot overall despite sales dropping 27 percent last year to 205,720.

The hardest hit model in the top 50 was the Ford Focus compact hatchback, which had a 45 percent sales decline, leaving it in 33rd place overall.

The Ford Fiesta small hatchback was next with a drop of 47 percent to place it 43rd, according to Dataforce.

The VW Passat midsize sedan was also badly hit, with a drop of 28 percent.

It's likely that demand for the Golf was also hit by sales of the VW ID3, ID4 and other compact-sized VW Group electric vehicles, LMC's Chan said.

“There is an argument that VW prioritized limited components to EV launches where possible to help them reach their CO2 target,” he said.

VW Group announced late last month it beat its 2021 European CO2 emissions target, helped by its EV push.

The group, which includes the VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat brands, had average CO2 emissions of 118.5 grams per km last year, which was 2 percent below its required level for its new passenger car fleet in the EU.

The ID4 finished No. 41 in December with sales of 6,805, while the ID3 was 48th with a volume of 5,906 as VW and other brands pushed sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids in the final month of 2021 to ensure they met their EU targets and avoided fines.

Berlin-based analyst Matthias Schmidt's analysis of car sales in Western Europe found that EVs outsold diesels for the first time in December.

The race for second place behind the Golf in overall European sales was incredibly tight last year. Just 2,731 sales separated the No. 2 Dacia Sandero from the Peugeot 2008 in fifth place.

The Sandero's impressive finish came after demand for the newly overhauled small hatchback rose 18 percent last year, helping it leapfrog the Peugeot 208 in third and Renault Clio in fourth. The Clio suffered a 21 percent decline last year.

Renault's poor 2021 was compounded by the 11 percent sales slide for the Captur small SUV, leaving it in 11th place with sales of 159,085.

Overall, the chip crisis and continued disruption caused by COVID-19 infections damaged Europe's car market, which fell 1.5 percent to 11.8 million, according to industry association ACEA.

Not everyone experienced a full-year sales decline. Hyundai and sister brand Kia's combined European market share increased to 8.7 percent last year, up from 7.0 percent in 2020, according to ACEA figures.

Toyota brand increased its share to 6.1 percent last year from 5.4 percent in 2020 on strong demand for the new Yaris small car, Europe's No. 6-seller in 2021.

Automakers that lost share included Ford, which slipped to 4.4 percent from 5.4 percent in 2020, and Renault Group, which dropped to 9.3 percent from 10.3 percent the year before, according to ACEA.

VW Group Europe's No. 1 with a share of 25 percent, down 0.6 percentage points, followed by Stellantis, which maintained its share of 20.2 percent for the second year in a row.