Europe May 2022: Toyota (+3.6%), Hyundai (+9.9%), Kia (+9.8%) defy bettering market (-12.5%), Peugeot 208 #1

The new Aygo X helps Toyota remain in 2nd place in Europe.

14/07 update: Now with Top 75 All-brands and Top 410 All-models.

29/06 update: Now with Top 10 models.

According to preliminary data from ACEA, the European market (EU+EFTA+UK) drops -12.5% year-on-year to 948,149 units, that’s a better hold than March (-18.8%) and April (-20.2%). This is the 2nd lowest May result in the past 10 years and registrations are off -34.3% on the 1.443.708 units of pre-pandemic May 2019. Year-to-date, sales are off -12.9% to 4,531,598, that’s 670,000 units less than over the first 5 months of 2021. Among the Top 5 markets, France (-10.1%), Germany (-10.2%) and Spain (-10.9%) do better than the overall market while Italy (-15.1%) and the UK (-20.6%). Overall, the market ending the month in positive are Iceland (+65.9%), Bulgaria (+35.2%), Cyprus (+26.8%), Romania (+24%), Latvia (+17.1%), Greece (+10.5%) and Sweden (+8.6%). The ones faring the worst are Lithuania (-33.2%), Austria (-24%) and Portugal (-23.5%).

In the groups ranking, the VW Group (-21.5%) posts a significant loss but stays in the lead above Stellantis (-14.6%) doing much better but still trailing the market. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (-8.4%) keeps its loss to the single-digits just as Hyundai-Kia (+9.8%) and the Toyota Group (+1%) post the only year-on-year gains in the Top 10. Ford Motor (-4.8%) and Daimler (-8.3%) also outpace the market unlike the BMW Group (-13.3%), Geely/Volvo (-23.2%) and Jaguar Land Rover (-36.6%). Brand-wise, Volkswagen (-19.8%) easily tops the charts above a growing Toyota (+3.6%), managing a 5th consecutive month at a record #2. Peugeot (-15.5%) rallies back up three spots on April to #3, overtaking BMW (-13.8%), Mercedes (-1.9%) and Audi (-18.7%). Hyundai (+9.9%) and Kia (+9.8%) post the largest gains in the Top 10. Below, Dacia (+11.6%), Nissan (+4.6%), Cupra (+91.5%), MG (+1276%) and DS (+18.6%) also shine with year-on-year gains.

Model-wise, Stellantis holds three of the first four spots. The Peugeot 208 cements its overall lead thanks to a market defying 14.9% year-on-year gain, followed by the Opel Corsa (+15.6%) and VW T-Roc (-6.5%) down one spot on April to #3. The Fiat 500 (-8.3%) follows at #4 while the VW Golf (-35.4%) rallies back up 9 ranks to a still disappointing 5th position. Excellent scores by the Hyundai Tucson (#6), Fiat Panda (#7) and Ford Kuga (#8). The Ford Puma (-5.7%) and Toyota Yaris (-28%) round out the Top 10 just above the Kia Sportage (+41.4%) in outstanding shape thanks to the new model. The VW T-Cross (-5.6%) is back up three spots to #13 and the Peugeot 2008 (-28.3%) up 18 to #14 despite a ghastly fall. The Toyota Yaris Cross (#19) is the best-selling recent launch above the VW Taigo (#40).

Previous month: Europe April 2022: Market down -20.2%, Peugeot 208 #1, VW T-Roc, Ford Puma, Kia Sportage break records

One year ago: Europe May 2021: Toyota, BMW, Audi, Skoda outpace market up 73.7% on 2020 but down -25% on 2019

Full Europe May 2022 Top 10 groups, Top 75 All-brands and Top 410 All-models below.