2022 (Full Year) Europe: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers and Brands

In full-year 2022, Volkswagen and Stellantis remained the largest carmakers in Europe while VW, Toyota, and BMW were the top-selling brands.

In full-year 2022, Volkswagen and Stellantis remained the largest carmakers in Europe while VW, Toyota, and BMW were the top-selling brands.

In 2022, the Volkswagen Group was again the largest producer of passenger cars in the European Union (EU), Britain, and EFTA followed by Stellantis and the Renault Group. Volkswagen remained the top-selling car brand in Europe but Peugeot slipped to fifth with Toyota becoming the second-largest car brand in Europe followed by BMW. In 2022, the European new car market contracted by 4.1% to only 11,286,939 new passenger vehicle registrations. The Peugeot 208 was the best-selling car model in Europe in 2022.

Latest European Car Market Statistics 2022: By Country, Brands, Models, Electric, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, Full Year, 2021 & 2020

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Europe in 2022 (Full Year)

The best-selling car manufacturers in the European Union (EU), the UK, and EFTA countries in full-year 2022 according to the ACEA were:

Car Manufacturer / Brand20222021% Change% Share 1)
Volkswagen Group2,789,8282,957,738-5.724.7
Volkswagen1,197,4551,286,148-6.910.6
Audi614,545597,231+2.95.4
Skoda538,623588,863-8.54.8
Seat2345,704402,069-14.03.1
Porsche87,14778,048+11.70.8
Others36,3545,379+18.10.1
Stellantis2,052,5432,377,398-13.718.2
Peugeot619,173724,313-14.55.5
Opel/Vauxhall428,145486,406-12.03.8
Fiat4395,378474,104-16.63.5
Citroen375,578445,558-15.73.3
Jeep103,174128,879-19.90.9
DS49,99942,689+17.10.4
Lancia/Chrysler41,09643,783-6.10.4
Alfa Romeo32,73726,465+23.70.3
Others57,2635,201+39.60.1
Renault Group1,061,5601,093,448-2.99.4
Renault582,766678,709-14.15.2
Dacia475,511410,739+15.84.2
Alpine3,2832,439+34.60.0
Hyundai Group1,060,9891,018,637+4.29.4
Kia542,423502,677+7.94.8
Hyundai518,566515,960+0.54.6
BMW Group817,993859,036-4.87.2
BMW646,538683,164-5.45.7
Mini171,455175,872-2.51.5
Toyota Group805,952760,071+6.07.1
Toyota766,769712,505+7.66.8
Lexus39,18347,566-17.60.3
Mercedes-Benz655,962679,822-3.55.8
Mercedes634,697644,450-1.55.6
Smart21,26535,372-39.90.2
Ford516,614518,401-0.34.6
Volvo247,126282,524-12.52.2
Nissan238,017249,627-4.72.1
Mazda140,108155,439-9.91.2
Jaguar Land Rover Group119,861149,784-20.01.1
Land Rover94,884111,745-15.10.8
Jaguar24,97738,039-34.30.2
Honda67,14468,346-1.80.6
Mitsubishi56,91873,370-22.40.5
Source: ACEA

Notes: 1. ACEA statistics do not include all brands, eg Tesla, but estimates of totals include such brands as well. Including: 2. Cupra, 3. Bentley and Lamborghini, 4. Abarth, 5. Dodge, Maserati, and RAM.

Largest Carmakers in Europe in 2022 (Full Year)

Volkswagen easily remained the largest carmaker in Europe in 2022 despite market share dipping just below a quarter again. Porsche and luxury brands Bentley and Lamborghini performed well but Audi added more volume. The three main brands — VW, Skoda, and Seat — all had weaker sales than the market average.

Stellantis remained the second-largest car producer in Europe but the five largest brands — Peugeot, Opel, Fiat, Citroen, and Jeep — all had double-digit declines. In contrast, DS and Alfa Romeo had strong growth. Stellantis lost two percentage points in market share.

The Renault Group slightly outperformed the market due to strong growth by the budget brand Dacia. Renault-branded car sales slumped nearly as much as Peugeot.

The Hyundai Group failed by only 572 sales to take third place in Europe in 2022. BMW Group sales were lower but at market average while Toyota made strong gains.

Mercedes-Benz Group sales outperformed the market with Mercedes sales only moderately weaker while Smart sales plummeted while the new car models are awaited in 2023. Ford sales were flat but gained market share.

Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2022

The ten largest car brands in Europe in 2022 according to the ACEA were:

’21’22Marque20222021% Change
11Volkswagen1,197,4551,286,148-6.9
32Toyota766,769712,505+7.6
43BMW646,538683,164-5.4
64Mercedes634,697644,450-1.5
25Peugeot619,173724,313-14.5
76Audi614,545597,231+2.9
57Renault582,766678,709-14.1
118Kia542,423502,677+7.9
89Skoda538,623588,863-8.5
1010Hyundai518,566515,960+0.5

Top-Selling Car Brands in Europe in 2022

Volkswagen easily remained the largest car brand in Europe in 2022 despite well-published production issues and a 7% contraction in sales. In contrast, Toyota sales increased by 7.6% in 2022 to become the second-largest car brand in Europe for the first time ever.

Peugeot slipped from second to fifth despite the Peugeot 208 being Europe’s favorite car model in 2022. BMW moved to third for the first time ever followed by its direct competitors Mercedes-Benz and Audi, which had stronger sales.

Renault slipped two positions with sales declining as strongly as for Peugeot. Kia entered the top-ten list from 11th with sales up 7.8%. Of the top 20 brands, only Dacia at 12th performed stronger with sales up 16%.

Skoda slipped one position with weaker sales while Hyundai remained at tenth with flat sales. Ford slipped from 9th to 11th despite outperforming the broader market.

See also: 2022 (Europe): Car Sales per European Country

Europe Car Sales Statistics for 2022

→  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.