**SUV sales in Europe accounted for 51 percent of new car sales in 2023, increasing 19 percent from 2022.**
The inevitable has finally arrived. Everyone knows SUVs are popular – in the US they outsell other categories including pickup trucks. The same can be said for Europe, but an even more disturbing statistic reared its head in the Old Continent for 2023. SUVs weren’t simply the most popular vehicle category. They outsold all other categories combined.
We saw this coming last year when preliminary numbers pointed towards total SUV dominance, but a tally from Automotive News Europe shows the 50-percent threshold was indeed crossed for 2023. Specifically, 51 percent of new vehicle sales went to SUVs and crossovers, leaving sedans, trucks, wagons, and hatchbacks to fill up the rest. It’s a 19-percent year-over-year increase for the segment, led by the Tesla Model Y, which earned the title of best-selling vehicle in the world for 2023. For some context, Model Y sales alone increased a whopping 85 percent in the region.
That’s not to say the streets of Europe are being overrun by big SUVs. Where small hatchbacks were once king, small SUVs now occupy that space. Automotive News Europe says that small and compact people movers are the most popular, accounting for 4.1 million sales. However, the data show premium SUVs had the largest year-over-year increase, rising 31 percent to reach 843,939 sales. Based on the overwhelmingly positive stats we’ve seen from luxury brands last year, this makes sense.
While Tesla is enjoying considerable success with the Model Y, it’s not the best-selling vehicle in the US. Cumulatively speaking, SUVs handily outsell trucks but Americans still love full-size pickups. The Ford F-Series has led the US chart for decades, and 2023 was a good year with 750,789 units sold, an increase of 14.8 percent. The Chevrolet Silverado was second at 555,148 sales, and crosstown rival Ram took third with 444,936 truck sales. The most popular SUV in America finally lands in fourth, but it’s not Tesla. The Toyota RAV4 claims that title instead, with 434,943 sales, followed by the Tesla Model Y at an estimated 403,987 sold units.
Paris must be on to something.
Germans about to have a meltdown.
Older population can’t bend as much when entering the car and they’re the only ones that have money
The true apocalypse of the automotive industry.
part of this is also because every car is an ‘suv’ now. like look at that t-roc… it’s a hatchback with a bulbous hood.
EDIT: look at this thing… it’s literally a golf with maybe a 4 cm lifted suspension and smaller windows
There is absolutely no reason for this lol. Hopefully they will tax the SUVs more than smaller cars.
Thank you Americans for yet another shitty export.
Pretty sure their popularity simply comes down to feeling more safe in a bigger vehicle, and that simply bigger=better in most people’s minds, even if neither are potentially true. In the US there’s a reason (kinda like a legal loophole) that SUV sales are pushed so much, here in EU, I think it’s simply those 2 reasons, maybe boot space
As long as everything manufacturer claims is a SUV is counted as one we will get this kind of nonsense, where car smaller than average combi is somehow counted together with biggest dumpster trucks from Audi and BMW.
nObOdY uSeS cArS iN eUrOpe
Is VW TRoc(miniature) a SUV?
In my underground garage a Volvo XC90 stays close to TCross and TRoc.
XC90 is huge and I have no idea how one can drive this in an european city. It’s even hard to fit it in a parking site.
TRoc and Tcros are tiny. **Shorter** than sedans, a little bit taller but not much. Their trunks are shorter but taller so you can put a baby troller without issues. You are able to better see what happens around you or just out your kid to a child seat without kneeing. They are really good option for small families in cities.
Well yes but if you look at the average size and emissions in Europe it isn’t a huge jump. Especially if you consider the amount of large petrol engined German saloons running about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bmw man, but my e39 525i has WAY worse emissions than any brand new 2.0 diesel vw tiguan. I get less than 20mpg consistently, my friend’s 10yr old tiguan does 55mpg consistently. Nobody bats an eyelid when I go around in my “classic bmw”.
The parkings are *tiny* over here in the Netherlands, we have trouble getting little cars in and out
Good luck with these stupid busses
This is why I’m unable to take EU regulations about emissions seriously. If the goal is really to reduce emissions put a cap on weight and front sections of cars, FFS
Well, SUVs are reasonably safe as long as there aren’t any pedestrians around! Should be no problem!
Well i mean yeah.. they are okay for cities but also outside. And have a big bih luggage space. I literally managed to move out from my student apartment where i lived for 5 years with 2 trips from a Honda CR-V instead of hiring any movers. It was awesome. Also great for driving around other countries and going to holidays.
And they say America has no cultural influence. Pfft
BMW X5 for the win
Well it was a real nice planet we had once
Because of bad EU regulation rule unfortunately.
If a car weights more, it’s allowed to emit more.
This is just fucking sad. SUV’s offer almost only downsides with very few occasional upsides.
One reason could be that people without kids prefer to use public transport and only buy a car if they have children and need a larger and preferably safer car to fit the whole family (like an SUV).
could i take my trx to to europe? i know its unrelated but like would the eu hate a truck that is a v8?
I mean it makes almost no sense not to buy a crossover because their price is almost like their hatchback counterparts (even if they’re 2-3k euros more expensive, that is like 10% a month difference because not many people buy a new car in cash)
American culture is shitting and pissing itself all over the world
Oh for fucks sake. I hate this SUV craze. A sedan/hatchback with the same engine is 98% as practical as an SUV , as much if not safer , cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain , uses less fuel , faster , more fun to drive , causes less harm to the environment yet somehow the whole automotive industry and the idiots who buy into trends convinced everyone to buy SUVs
Also some of the crossovers that are considered SUVs are actually pretty compact but with the added benefit of being higher and a bit more roomy.
This confirms my suspicion that more than half of people are selfish cunts with absolutely no taste.
Yeah but are these actually SUV’s or including subcompact SUVs and other types which are basically regular cars with raised ground clearance or boxier shapes?
People like them because they kill more children and pedestrians than lighter cars.
Thought that cheery thought would be good on a Friday night.
I mean SUVs are pretty practical for families – plenty of room for stuff, high clearance to go mild off-road. It sucks at a track, but who cares, most cars suck too. Limiting negative effects of SUVs should be approached from limiting effect of using cars altogether, from hatchbacks to trucks: prohibitive parking prices, all sorts of taxes, viable alternatives (transit, railroads). Most of the measures are already implemented in many cities and countries, so I don’t see this trend as a reason of petrolheads getting tough live, but a consequence of aforementioned measures.
I’d be curious to see how many are the small mini suv types. Like a q3 is not that different to a sedan
This subreddit is wow
Americans = Hellscape, shows their lack of education and what about health care.. just throw anything out there to explain why SUVs are bad even if its non-relevant
Europeans = Welp, they have perks! Roomy, safe, good for big families, love’em!
33 comments
Article:
**SUV sales in Europe accounted for 51 percent of new car sales in 2023, increasing 19 percent from 2022.**
The inevitable has finally arrived. Everyone knows SUVs are popular – in the US they outsell other categories including pickup trucks. The same can be said for Europe, but an even more disturbing statistic reared its head in the Old Continent for 2023. SUVs weren’t simply the most popular vehicle category. They outsold all other categories combined.
We saw this coming last year when preliminary numbers pointed towards total SUV dominance, but a tally from Automotive News Europe shows the 50-percent threshold was indeed crossed for 2023. Specifically, 51 percent of new vehicle sales went to SUVs and crossovers, leaving sedans, trucks, wagons, and hatchbacks to fill up the rest. It’s a 19-percent year-over-year increase for the segment, led by the Tesla Model Y, which earned the title of best-selling vehicle in the world for 2023. For some context, Model Y sales alone increased a whopping 85 percent in the region.
That’s not to say the streets of Europe are being overrun by big SUVs. Where small hatchbacks were once king, small SUVs now occupy that space. Automotive News Europe says that small and compact people movers are the most popular, accounting for 4.1 million sales. However, the data show premium SUVs had the largest year-over-year increase, rising 31 percent to reach 843,939 sales. Based on the overwhelmingly positive stats we’ve seen from luxury brands last year, this makes sense.
While Tesla is enjoying considerable success with the Model Y, it’s not the best-selling vehicle in the US. Cumulatively speaking, SUVs handily outsell trucks but Americans still love full-size pickups. The Ford F-Series has led the US chart for decades, and 2023 was a good year with 750,789 units sold, an increase of 14.8 percent. The Chevrolet Silverado was second at 555,148 sales, and crosstown rival Ram took third with 444,936 truck sales. The most popular SUV in America finally lands in fourth, but it’s not Tesla. The Toyota RAV4 claims that title instead, with 434,943 sales, followed by the Tesla Model Y at an estimated 403,987 sold units.
Paris must be on to something.
Germans about to have a meltdown.
Older population can’t bend as much when entering the car and they’re the only ones that have money
The true apocalypse of the automotive industry.
part of this is also because every car is an ‘suv’ now. like look at that t-roc… it’s a hatchback with a bulbous hood.
EDIT: look at this thing… it’s literally a golf with maybe a 4 cm lifted suspension and smaller windows
[https://www.autozeitung.de/vw-golf-vw-t-roc-vergleich-199756.html](https://www.autozeitung.de/vw-golf-vw-t-roc-vergleich-199756.html)
There is absolutely no reason for this lol. Hopefully they will tax the SUVs more than smaller cars.
Thank you Americans for yet another shitty export.
Pretty sure their popularity simply comes down to feeling more safe in a bigger vehicle, and that simply bigger=better in most people’s minds, even if neither are potentially true. In the US there’s a reason (kinda like a legal loophole) that SUV sales are pushed so much, here in EU, I think it’s simply those 2 reasons, maybe boot space
As long as everything manufacturer claims is a SUV is counted as one we will get this kind of nonsense, where car smaller than average combi is somehow counted together with biggest dumpster trucks from Audi and BMW.
nObOdY uSeS cArS iN eUrOpe
Is VW TRoc(miniature) a SUV?
In my underground garage a Volvo XC90 stays close to TCross and TRoc.
XC90 is huge and I have no idea how one can drive this in an european city. It’s even hard to fit it in a parking site.
TRoc and Tcros are tiny. **Shorter** than sedans, a little bit taller but not much. Their trunks are shorter but taller so you can put a baby troller without issues. You are able to better see what happens around you or just out your kid to a child seat without kneeing. They are really good option for small families in cities.
Well yes but if you look at the average size and emissions in Europe it isn’t a huge jump. Especially if you consider the amount of large petrol engined German saloons running about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bmw man, but my e39 525i has WAY worse emissions than any brand new 2.0 diesel vw tiguan. I get less than 20mpg consistently, my friend’s 10yr old tiguan does 55mpg consistently. Nobody bats an eyelid when I go around in my “classic bmw”.
The parkings are *tiny* over here in the Netherlands, we have trouble getting little cars in and out
Good luck with these stupid busses
This is why I’m unable to take EU regulations about emissions seriously. If the goal is really to reduce emissions put a cap on weight and front sections of cars, FFS
Well, SUVs are reasonably safe as long as there aren’t any pedestrians around! Should be no problem!
Well i mean yeah.. they are okay for cities but also outside. And have a big bih luggage space. I literally managed to move out from my student apartment where i lived for 5 years with 2 trips from a Honda CR-V instead of hiring any movers. It was awesome. Also great for driving around other countries and going to holidays.
And they say America has no cultural influence. Pfft
BMW X5 for the win
Well it was a real nice planet we had once
Because of bad EU regulation rule unfortunately.
If a car weights more, it’s allowed to emit more.
This is just fucking sad. SUV’s offer almost only downsides with very few occasional upsides.
One reason could be that people without kids prefer to use public transport and only buy a car if they have children and need a larger and preferably safer car to fit the whole family (like an SUV).
could i take my trx to to europe? i know its unrelated but like would the eu hate a truck that is a v8?
I mean it makes almost no sense not to buy a crossover because their price is almost like their hatchback counterparts (even if they’re 2-3k euros more expensive, that is like 10% a month difference because not many people buy a new car in cash)
American culture is shitting and pissing itself all over the world
Oh for fucks sake. I hate this SUV craze. A sedan/hatchback with the same engine is 98% as practical as an SUV , as much if not safer , cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain , uses less fuel , faster , more fun to drive , causes less harm to the environment yet somehow the whole automotive industry and the idiots who buy into trends convinced everyone to buy SUVs
Also some of the crossovers that are considered SUVs are actually pretty compact but with the added benefit of being higher and a bit more roomy.
This confirms my suspicion that more than half of people are selfish cunts with absolutely no taste.
Yeah but are these actually SUV’s or including subcompact SUVs and other types which are basically regular cars with raised ground clearance or boxier shapes?
People like them because they kill more children and pedestrians than lighter cars.
Thought that cheery thought would be good on a Friday night.
I mean SUVs are pretty practical for families – plenty of room for stuff, high clearance to go mild off-road. It sucks at a track, but who cares, most cars suck too. Limiting negative effects of SUVs should be approached from limiting effect of using cars altogether, from hatchbacks to trucks: prohibitive parking prices, all sorts of taxes, viable alternatives (transit, railroads). Most of the measures are already implemented in many cities and countries, so I don’t see this trend as a reason of petrolheads getting tough live, but a consequence of aforementioned measures.
I’d be curious to see how many are the small mini suv types. Like a q3 is not that different to a sedan
This subreddit is wow
Americans = Hellscape, shows their lack of education and what about health care.. just throw anything out there to explain why SUVs are bad even if its non-relevant
Europeans = Welp, they have perks! Roomy, safe, good for big families, love’em!