Automotive News Europe - November 2019 - 6

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

COVER STORY

Europe's larger, more costly SUV segments include models such as the Audi Q7 (shown) and Mercedes GLE. The segments are unlikely to see much growth in the near future without electrifying, analysts say.

Rough road
How SUVs will overcome slowing sales, CO2 backlash to keep growing
PETER SIGAL

psigal@autonews.com

UVs and crossovers have been touted
for their ability to handle rough roads,
urban potholes and bad weather. But they
are facing far more difficult challenges:
Slowing sales and tightening emissions
regulations. In the past decade, SUVs
and crossovers have gone from niche
vehicles with less than 10 percent of the
European market to nearly 40 percent of
all new-car sales today. Buyers love them
for their image, the sense of security they
give and their high seating position. Automakers have profited handsomely from
healthy profit margins compared with
equivalent non-SUV models.
While the party may not be over, sales
in the midsize segment have declined
this year by 8.2 percent, and growth has
slowed to 1.8 percent among compact
SUVs, according to data from JATO Dynamics. Only small SUVs and crossovers
are continuing to take market share,
with the segment up 13 percent through
the first half. In the premium SUV seg-

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ments, sales of large models are down
2.5 percent and medium models have
lost 2 percent. The compact segment,
however, grew at a healthy 18 percent.
Analysts see that as a sign of a maturing
market. "Basically, the growth in SUVs
is coming in the smaller segments," said
Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst
at JATO Dynamics. "Many consumers
have already shifted to SUVs from regular cars. The next step will be electrification, which will be quite a challenge
considering design and weight issues."
Midsize SUVs are sensitive to increased
regulations that penalize high-polluting
vehicles, analysts said, and small and
compact SUVs are gaining in sophistication and even size. Automakers are
"bringing all the utility of big vehicles
into smaller ones," said Tim Urquhart,
an analyst at IHS Markit. "That's definitely been one of the trends in the last
few years." Urquhart cited the new Mercedes-Benz GLB, a compact SUV available with seven seats, a feature typically
reserved for large or midsize models.

The larger and most costly SUV segments, which include models such as
the Audi Q7 (sales down 42 percent in
the first half) and the Mercedes GLE
(down 52 percent) are not likely to see
much future growth because of a lack of
full-electric models, Munoz said.

THE LEADERS
Europe's top-selling SUVs/crossovers
through 9 months (overall ranking
among all car sold Jan.-Sept. 2019)
1. VW Tiguan
2. Dacia Duster
3. Nissan Qashqai
4. Renault Captur
5. VW T-Roc
6. Peugeot 3008
7. Peugeot 2008
8. Ford Kuga
9. Hyundai Tucson
10. Toyota C-HR

200,382
167,595
166,728
166,403
162,332
148,293
130,338
107,508
107,072
95,518

(No. 3)
(11)
(13)
(14)
(16)
(18)
(21)
(26)
(27)
(33)

Source: JATO Dynamics

NOVEMBER 2019

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Automotive News Europe - November 2019

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