- Even if the market for SUVs (and crossovers) has continued to grow in Europe for a dozen years, the production of SUVs (and crossovers) marked a pause in 2013 (as in 2009) due to clearance organised by manufacturers, a reduced sales price of large SUVs (eg Volkswagen) and the end of the life cycle of the segment leader (Nissan Qashqai) that will be replaced early 2014.

- By manufacturer, the Volkswagen Group remains the European leader of SUV sales in 2013, almost on par with the Renault-Nissan group that maintained its position thanks to the good sale figures of the Dacia Duster and the arrival of the Renault Captur. Behind these two SUV leaders (650 000 units produced for each of them), follows far behind the Tata Group (Land Rover) which produced 350 000 units. Followed by BMW, Hyundai-Kia, PSA and Volvo.

- By segment, we can see on the chart below that the SUV boom in Europe was possible thanks to a broadening towards segment C from 2007 to 2012 and then another towards segment B from 2010 to 2013, while segments D, E and F have been sluggish or on the decline. The offer has therefore focused in recent years on SUV segment B and C.

- By model, we can observe thanks to the graph on the next page that out of the 30 models produced in Europe, the Nissan Qashqai, VW Tiguan, Nissan Juke and Land Rover Evoque represent a third of total European production of SUVs.

  

- Segment A is expected to increase during 2014-2015-2016 in Europe particularly depending on the arrival in the market of new products such as the Renault Twingo, Smart Fortwo, Citroen C1, Peugeot 108, Toyota Aygo and Ford Ka, but also thanks to the recovery (moderate) of French, Spanish and Italian markets.

- "Premium" positioned carmakers consisting of the Fiat 500 and the Opel Adam is expected to grow slightly. Unless there are last minute changes, there should be no new competitors to these two vehicles for the period 2014-2015-2016, unless there is a new Smart Fortwo. The Audi (A0?) and BMW (Series 0?) could nevertheless position themselves on this segment, but for now no announcements have been made.

- Thanks to the new product effect and the recovery of South European markets, segment A could regain a market share of 10% to 12% between 2014 and 2016 (without scrappage incentives), while the 12% peak in 2009 was achieved through these bonuses.

- Since B-segment cars evolve in terms of size, prices and services, the usual buyers of this segment  could turn to segment A. In addition, EU regulations (consumption, pollution, access to urban centres ...) push consumers  towards  the small car market.

- However, development of low cost ranges in segment B (example: Dacia Sandero) could limit the growth of cars from segment A. In fact for the price of a  segment A car, the potential buyer can acquire a simpler car with higher benefits (especially roominess).