2020 European Automotive Sales by Brand – The Best-Selling Automotive Brands By Sales Volume
Car sales in Europe dropped by 23.75% in 2020 to just under 12 million deliveries, which translates to a loss of over 3.5 million new car deliveries. That makes 2020 the worst year for automotive sales in modern history, both in terms of losses and in terms of absolute figures. Almost all European markets recorded double-digit declines in 2020, with the notable exception being Norway, where sales were virtually flat at -0.7%. Among Europe’s five major car markets, Spain posted the sharpest drop (-32.3%), followed closely by the UK (-29.4%) Italy (-27.9%) and France (-25.5%), while Germany (-19.1%) also saw a significant drop in deliveries.
In the brands ranking, the top-3 brands all lose between 22% and 24% of their sales of 2019, which means Peugeot jumps to third place, just ahead of Mercedes-Benz (-17.4%) as both brands knock down Ford (-29.5%) into 5th place. The best performers in the top-10 are Toyota (-12.1%) and Skoda (-14.6%). Toyota passes Skoda and Audi to take 7th place, while Opel/Vauxhall is the worst performer at -39.8% and falls behind those same two brands. At least in Q4 Opel/Vauxhall started crawling back from rock bottom, and with the new Mokka crossover coming in 2021, the brand should be able to bounce back a bit this year.
Dacia also struggled in 2020 with sales down 30.8%, but the new generation Sandero and the addition of the Spring small EV should boost the brand in 2021. Volvo (-14.3%) and Kia (-15.6%) were the best performing brands in the top-20. Kia jumped 3 places to #13, while Volvo passes Nissan in the ranking. Further down Tesla (-12.3%), Porsche (-5.4%) also outperformed the market. Tesla now outsells Honda in Europe and Porsche also closes in on the Japanese brand. Super luxury brands were less affected by the slowdown, with Ferrari sales up 13%, Bentley down just 10.8% and Lamborghini sales down just 7.8%.
SAIC MG was the big winner in 2020 as it expanded its market from just the UK to some select markets in continental Europe late 2019 and expanded further in 2020. The addition of its all-electric crossover ZS EV also helped the brand grow 58.1% in Europe. Other gainers were Mahindra at +17.5% thanks to the addition of the small crossover KUV100, Great Wall with sales more than tripling, however it remains a niche player with 370 sales, even behind newcomer and fellow Chinese brand Aiways which delivered the first 430 units of its U5 EV crossover. Geely/Volvo’s EV brand Polestar landed at #37 in the brands ranking with 8,811 deliveries and Chinese/Italian brand DR Motor was stable at -1.4%.
Among other small brands, Alpine struggled in its second full year of sales, down almost 70%. Lada was down 60% as it prepares to leave the EU market, Infiniti has already ended sales in Europe, while Chevrolet and Cadillac are decimated even further, although the latter showed a small rebound in the fourth quarter thanks to the XT4 crossover. Its volume remains insignificant, though.
2020 Best Selling Car Brands In Europe
This data table looks at last month’s total automotive brand volumes in Europe by model. We compare European automotive brand sales with last year. With these sales numbers we also calculate a growth rate column so you can better gauge an individual automotive brands sales success in the Canadian market.
| Brand | Month | LY | Change | YTD | YTD Last Year | YTD Change | Month Share | YTD Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiways | 550 | 0 | 0.00 | 550 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.00 |
| Alfa Romeo | 35,702 | 54,358 | -34.32 | 35,702 | 54,358 | -34.32 | 2.22 | 0.21 |
| Alpine | 1,343 | 4,376 | -69.31 | 1,343 | 4,376 | -69.31 | 0.08 | 0.01 |
| Aston Martin | 1,602 | 2,509 | -36.15 | 1,602 | 2,509 | -36.15 | 0.10 | 0.01 |
| Audi | 595,821 | 740,651 | -19.55 | 595,821 | 740,651 | -19.55 | 37.10 | 3.46 |
| Bentley | 2,944 | 3,299 | -10.76 | 2,944 | 3,299 | -10.76 | 0.18 | 0.02 |
| BMW | 659,333 | 812,800 | -18.88 | 659,333 | 812,800 | -18.88 | 41.06 | 3.82 |
| Cadillac | 106 | 445 | -76.18 | 106 | 445 | -76.18 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| Chevrolet | 126 | 2,382 | -94.71 | 126 | 2,382 | -94.71 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| Citroen | 433,531 | 625,817 | -30.73 | 433,531 | 625,817 | -30.73 | 26.99 | 2.51 |
| Dacia | 398,675 | 576,436 | -30.84 | 398,675 | 576,436 | -30.84 | 24.82 | 2.31 |
| DR Motor | 3,440 | 3,864 | -10.97 | 3,440 | 3,864 | -10.97 | 0.21 | 0.02 |
| DS | 43,597 | 52,597 | -17.11 | 43,597 | 52,597 | -17.11 | 2.71 | 0.25 |
| Ferrari | 4,284 | 3,608 | 18.74 | 4,284 | 3,608 | 18.74 | 0.27 | 0.02 |
| Fiat | 576,720 | 794,343 | -27.40 | 576,720 | 794,343 | -27.40 | 35.91 | 3.35 |
| Ford | 578,336 | 903,229 | -35.97 | 578,336 | 903,229 | -35.97 | 36.01 | 3.35 |
| Honda | 62,711 | 101,185 | -38.02 | 62,711 | 101,185 | -38.02 | 3.90 | 0.36 |
| Hyundai | 366,646 | 468,720 | -21.78 | 366,646 | 468,720 | -21.78 | 22.83 | 2.13 |
| Infiniti | 322 | 2,666 | -87.92 | 322 | 2,666 | -87.92 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Jaguar | 48,507 | 76,695 | -36.75 | 48,507 | 76,695 | -36.75 | 3.02 | 0.28 |
| Jeep | 120,422 | 163,122 | -26.18 | 120,422 | 163,122 | -26.18 | 7.50 | 0.70 |
| Kia | 420,142 | 497,954 | -15.63 | 420,142 | 497,954 | -15.63 | 26.16 | 2.44 |
| Lada | 1,924 | 4,715 | -59.19 | 1,924 | 4,715 | -59.19 | 0.12 | 0.01 |
| Lamborghini | 1,951 | 2,113 | -7.67 | 1,951 | 2,113 | -7.67 | 0.12 | 0.01 |
| Lancia | 86,152 | 117,640 | -26.77 | 86,152 | 117,640 | -26.77 | 5.36 | 0.50 |
| Land Rover | 102,564 | 122,809 | -16.48 | 102,564 | 122,809 | -16.48 | 6.39 | 0.59 |
| Lexus | 47,041 | 55,770 | -15.65 | 47,041 | 55,770 | -15.65 | 2.93 | 0.27 |
| Lotus | 597 | 664 | -10.09 | 597 | 664 | -10.09 | 0.04 | 0.00 |
| Maserati | 1,248 | 2,368 | -47.30 | 1,248 | 2,368 | -47.30 | 0.08 | 0.01 |
| Maxus | 81 | 0 | 0.00 | 81 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| Mazda | 198,573 | 298,750 | -33.53 | 198,573 | 298,750 | -33.53 | 12.36 | 1.15 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 685,511 | 850,752 | -19.42 | 685,511 | 850,752 | -19.42 | 42.69 | 3.98 |
| MG | 25,116 | 14,058 | 78.66 | 25,116 | 14,058 | 78.66 | 1.56 | 0.15 |
| Mini | 62,134 | 80,562 | -22.87 | 62,134 | 80,562 | -22.87 | 3.87 | 0.36 |
| Mitsubishi | 115,092 | 171,114 | -32.74 | 115,092 | 171,114 | -32.74 | 7.17 | 0.67 |
| Nissan | 318,989 | 426,560 | -25.22 | 318,989 | 426,560 | -25.22 | 19.86 | 1.85 |
| Opel | 410,388 | 668,046 | -38.57 | 410,388 | 668,046 | -38.57 | 25.55 | 2.38 |
| Peugeot | 749,400 | 967,861 | -22.57 | 749,400 | 967,861 | -22.57 | 46.66 | 4.35 |
| Polestar | 21,014 | 0 | 0.00 | 21,014 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.31 | 0.12 |
| Porsche | 73,838 | 77,543 | -4.78 | 73,838 | 77,543 | -4.78 | 4.60 | 0.43 |
| Renault | 814,955 | 1,056,644 | -22.87 | 814,955 | 1,056,644 | -22.87 | 50.75 | 4.73 |
| Rolls Royce | 595 | 820 | -27.44 | 595 | 820 | -27.44 | 0.04 | 0.00 |
| Seat | 369,253 | 504,585 | -26.82 | 369,253 | 504,585 | -26.82 | 22.99 | 2.14 |
| Skoda | 573,777 | 673,859 | -14.85 | 573,777 | 673,859 | -14.85 | 35.73 | 3.33 |
| Smart | 27,216 | 115,182 | -76.37 | 27,216 | 115,182 | -76.37 | 1.69 | 0.16 |
| Soueast | 4,460 | 10,325 | -56.80 | 4,460 | 10,325 | -56.80 | 0.28 | 0.03 |
| Subaru | 26,565 | 42,296 | -37.19 | 26,565 | 42,296 | -37.19 | 1.65 | 0.15 |
| Suzuki | 132,152 | 178,429 | -25.94 | 132,152 | 178,429 | -25.94 | 8.23 | 0.77 |
| SWM Motor | 13,747 | 32,064 | -57.13 | 13,747 | 32,064 | -57.13 | 0.86 | 0.08 |
| Tesla | 97,548 | 111,664 | -12.64 | 97,548 | 111,664 | -12.64 | 6.07 | 0.57 |
| Toyota | 634,494 | 722,415 | -12.17 | 634,494 | 722,415 | -12.17 | 39.51 | 3.68 |
| Volkswagen | 1,028,213 | 1,303,894 | -21.14 | 1,028,213 | 1,303,894 | -21.14 | 64.02 | 5.96 |
| Volvo | 236,149 | 241,579 | -2.25 | 236,149 | 241,579 | -2.25 | 14.70 | 1.37 |
| ∑ = 11,215,597 | ∑ = 14,746,137 | ∑ = 11,215,597 | ∑ = 14,746,137 |
2020 Auto Brand Market Share Dynamics in Europe
This data table looks at total automotive sales and specific brand volumes in Europe. We compare European automotive brand sales with last year. You can see the market share breakout visually for all the automotive brands selling in Europe.
2020 vs 2019 Auto Brand Sales in Europe
This chart simply takes each brand and compares their year to date sales with the year to date sales for the same time last year. Brands where the current bar is lower than the prior year bar have seen declines in sales year on year whereas brands with a larger current bar and lower prior bar are seeing growth in volumes year on year.
2020 Automotive Brand Sales Analysis
This chart might seem a little complicated at first but once you understand it is very helpful. First, the size of the area for each brand refers to their market share (i.e size). The bigger the circle the larger the brand in terms of sales volumes (YTD). The position of the circle in the chart along the left axis looks at the year to date growth of that brand. The higher the brand is on the chart, the more year to date growth it is seeing in sales volumes. Along the bottom axis you can see the total volumes shipped by that brand year to date.
European car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. They exclude vehicles registered as commercial vehicles.
Source: ANDC, JATO Dynamics
