2021 (February) Europe: Car Sales and Market Analysis

In February 2021, the European new car market contracted by another 20% — electrified vehicles and SUVs continue to gain market share in Europe (EU, UK, EFTA).

In February 2021, the European new car market contracted by another 20% -- electrified vehicles and SUVs continue to gain market share in Europe (EU, UK, EFTA). The Peugeot 208 was the best-selling car model in Europe in February 2021 followed by the Peugeot 2008 and the VW Golf.

New passenger vehicle registrations in Europe (European Union, EFTA, and the UK) continued to contract in February 2021 with new car sales down 20% for the month and down 23% for the first two months of 2021. Low emission vehicles took nearly 14% of the European new car market but SUVs also continued to increase in popularity with a 44% share of car sales. The Peugeot 208 was the best-selling car model in Europe in February 2021 followed by the Peugeot 2008 and the VW Golf.

Latest European Car Market Statistics 2021: January, February, March, Q1, April, May, June, HY, July, August, September, Q3, October, November, December, Full Year — 2020: Q1, HY, Q3, Full Year

European New Car Market in 2021 (February)

Car Sales in the European new car market in February from 2015 to 2021

New car registrations continued to fall in Europe in February 2021. According to data released by JATO for 27 markets across the region, volume totaled 848,455 units, down by 20% compared to the 1.06 million units registered in February 2020. This was the first time since 2015 that February car sales in Europe were lower than a million vehicles.

In February 2020, the European automotive industry saw a decline in registrations of 7% when compared to February 2019, and the impact of the pandemic has only accelerated this negative trend this year. Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics commented: “As long as travel restrictions remain in place and consumers stay indoors, the industry will continue to see negative results.”

Following the decline seen in February, JATO expects to see an increase in registrations in March 2021, especially compared to March 2020 when the European automotive industry experienced its lowest sales in 38 years, after the outbreak of the pandemic decreased registered units to 848,400.

Electrified Car Sales in Europe in 2021 (February)

Battery and plug-in hybrid electric car sales by manufacturer in Europe in February 2021.

The market for diesel cars is becoming increasingly challenging as the race for electrification continues. Registrations of diesel cars including mild-hybrids fell by 33% to almost 225,000 units, accounting for 27% of total new car registrations. For brands such as Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Mini, diesels have almost completetly disappeared from the sales mix.

On the other end of the spectrum, low emission pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars continued to gain traction in February. Posting a growth of 67%, these cars registered 115,000 units, and the total market share jumped from 6.5% in February 2020 to 13.6% last month. In Norway, they accounted for a significant 79% of total market.

The impact of EVs can also be seen through the European registration mix by fuel type. For example, one in three Land Rovers registered in February was an EV, compared to just 7% in February 2020. Year-on-year, the share of these vehicles also increased by more than 15 points for MG, Volvo, Mercedes, and Jeep, as manufacturers continued to diversify their SUV offering in response to increased demand for PHEV and EV alternatives.

Car Sales by Market Segment in Europe in February 2021

Car Sales by Market Segment in Europe in February 2021

Despite the highly challenging economic conditions, SUVs have fared well in comparison to traditional segments. SUVs posted a volume decrease of just 11%, compared to the drop of 23% registered by traditional cars (including city-cars, subcompacts, compact, midsize, executive, and luxury sedans). MPVs posted a 58% decline, falling to just 17,800 units – one of the worst monthly results for these vehicles.

Top-Selling Car Models in Europe in February 2021

For the second consecutive month, the VW Golf was not the top-selling car model in Europe. In February 2021, the Peugeot 208 replaced the Toyota Yaris, the top-seller in January, at the top of the model rankings. The last time Peugeot led the European rankings by model was in February 2008, with the Peugeot 207. The popularity of Peugeot’s current generation of models is also mirrored in the strong results posted by the 2008. This B-SUV was the second most registered car in February, with a significant volume increase of 51%, ahead of the Volkswagen T-Roc and Renault Captur.

The Ford Puma has continued to post significant increases becoming Ford’s top-selling model. There were also positive results for the Volvo XC40 (+33%), Ford Kuga (+220%), Tesla Model 3 (+55%), Mercedes GLB (+181%), Mercedes GLA/EQA (+49%), and Smart Fortwo (+114%). Among the latest launches, Volkswagen registered 3,744 units of the ID.3, Citroen registered 2,805 units of the C4, and Cupra registered 2,582 units of the Formentor.

Top-Selling Electric Car Models in Europe in February 2021

Top-selling battery electric and plug-in hybrid car models in Europe in February 2021 according to JATO were:

Top-Selling Electric Car Models in Europe in February 2021

The Tesla Model 3 regained the top position as best-selling electric car model in Europe in February 2021 followed by the VW ID3 and the Renault Zoe. As before, availability remained the deciding factor rather than consumer tastes in determining the top-selling electric car models in Europe. For most electric models, waiting lists are over three months long with many popular models sold out for over a year.

Car Sales Statistics for Europe in 2021

→  Latest European Car Sales Statistics

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.