Europe November 2021: Hyundai (+40.5%), Kia (+26.1%) ignore market off -17.5%, Renault Clio #1 in photo finish

Hyundai European sales are up 41.6% in a market down -17.5%.

24/12 update: Now with Top 65 All-brands and Top 400 All-models.

22/12 update: Now with Top 50 models.

According to preliminary data by ACEA, the European new car market (EU+EFTA+UK) slims down its fall from -29.3% in October to -17.5%  at 864,119 units. It leads to a year-to-date tally up just 0.8% to 10,824,670 units. This is the weakest November result since ACEA started tracking sales in 1993, but a better hold than we expected. As a result we are upgrading our 2021 Forecast to 11.84 million units, still tilting into negative at -0.8%. Among the Top 5 markets, only the UK (+1.7%) manages a positive result, with France (-3.2%) and Spain (-12.3%) keeping their loss below the market rate whereas Italy (-24%) and Germany (-31.7%) struggle. According to ACEA, the best performing markets and only additional ones in positive are Iceland (+73.8%), Bulgaria (+24%), Ireland (+22.9%), Norway (+21.8%) and Slovenia (+15.8%). At the other end of the scale we have Poland (-23.3%), Hungary (-28.4%), Cyprus (-28.8%) and Lithuania (-59.1%).

In the groups ranking, the VW Group (-31%) reclaims the top spot off Stellantis (-21.2%), both losing more ground than the market and reducing their footprint in Europe. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (-13.3%) resists of in third place but the winner of the month is without a doubt Hyundai-Kia up a stellar 30.4% to cement its 4th place overall. The BMW Group (-15.4%), Toyota Group (-9.7%) and Geely Group (-16%) both keep their fall to below the market rate but Daimler (-23.9%) and Ford Motor (-43.9%) both endure scathing losses.

Brand-wise, Volkswagen (-37.3%) continues to be severely affected by the microchip and parts shortage but easily holds onto the top spot with just above 76,000 sales. It is followed this month by Renault (-22%) passing Peugeot (-23.1%) while Mercedes (-25.8%) climbs to third spot. All aforementioned brands lose more ground than the market. In contrast Toyota (-13.5%) fares better and remains in 6th place below BMW (-20.4%). As we have seen earlier, the heroes of the month are Hyundai (+40.5%) and Kia (+26.1%), sporting breathtaking surges. Not only have the two Korean carmakers managed to avoid large losses, they are increasing their volumes by significant margins. What’s their secret? It appears they decided not to cut semiconductors orders during the pandemic after seeing the Asian markets recover stronger than expected. They therefore were sitting on a surplus of microchips and haven’t had to endure any shortage of parts. This way, their plants in Nosovice (Czech Republic), Izmit (Turkey) and Zilina (Slovakia) have avoided the long stoppages that have plagued all other carmakers. New products such as the Tucson and interest in EV variants of the Niro and Kona also helped. Dacia (+5.2%) is another brand in positive, climbing up 5 spots on October to #10. Tesla (+190%) also soars further down and returns to the Top 20 while Mini (+1.2%) benefits from a strong performance in the UK as does MG (+329.8%).

In the models ranking, as the VW Golf skids to #35 and the Toyota Yaris to #37, we have a photo finish with the Top 4 ending the month within just 184 sales. The Renault Clio (-14.7%) takes the lead for the month ahead of the Dacia Sandero (+5.9%), Peugeot 208 (-8.7%) and Peugeot 2008 (+1.4%). Note that if the Golf remains at #1 year-to-date, the Yaris drops from #2 to #7 year-to-date solely based on its paltry November result. The VW T-Roc (+4.3%) rounds out the Top 5, above the Opel Corsa (-31.9%), Citroen C3 (+2.3%) and Fiat 500 (-4.1%). The Hyundai Tucson (+104.4%) brilliantly manages a 5th consecutive Top 10 finish while the Dacia Duster (+2.4%) is up 11 spots on October to close the Top 10. The Tesla Model 3 is up 83 ranks on last month to #12, the Skoda Octavia (-33.2%) is back up 29 spots to #14 and the Toyota C-HR (+17.3%) is up 21 to #20, a new European ranking record for the nameplate. The new Toyota Yaris Cross is cannibalising the Yaris and leads recent launches at #24, distancing the Opel Mokka (#31), Dacia Spring (#40), Renault Arkana (#44), Tesla Model Y (#48) and Skoda Enyaq (#52).

Previous month: Europe October 2021: Stellantis topples VW Group, Hyundai up 11%, Peugeot 2008 #1 in market falling -29.3%

One year ago: Europe October/November 2020: Recovery cut short with -7.2% and -13.7% respective drops

Full November 2021 Top 10 groups, Top 65 All-brands and Top 400 All-models below.