The return of A-segment cars in China
Segment A cars (i.e. the cheapest on the market) nearly disappeared from the Chinese market in 2015-2016, after a peak in sales in 2010 (650,000 units) and then a steady decline from 2010 to 2016 (200,000 units). The development of A-segment car sales in China in the early 2000s was boosted by the rise of the Suzuki Alto and the Chery QQ, which were their first car purchase for many less fortunate Chinese. The development of LSEVs (Low Speed Electric Vehicles) was also relatively important in rural areas.

From 2017, Chinese A-segment cars are gradually converting to electric engines and these cars then become a second car in wealthy families. With the increase in purchasing power in China, A-segment customers often move directly to B-segment and even C-segment. Less fortunate customers then turn to second-hand. After a drop in sales of A-segment electric cars in 2019, following the reduction of government aid, the A-segment market is picking up vigorously in 2020 and especially 2021 with the appearance of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV which is creating a new market that tends to replace the old LSEV market.

In 2021, the Wuling Mini EV sold nearly 430,000 units in China, becoming the best-selling model in this market and reinvigorating the A segment which, thanks to the launch of competing models, reached a new sales peak of 865,000 units last year. However, the A segment remains very weak in China with a market share of 4% in 2021 (8% in Europe).


 
    
 

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Sales in Europe by segment and body in 2021
Sales of passenger cars in Europe (29 countries) in 2021 show that the B segment and the C segment are now equal in terms of volume and market share (around 35% for each of the two segments). The B segment has been progressing continuously since 2005 and has managed to join the C segment, which has remained more or less stable since 2009, despite the arrival of C segment SUVs. from C-segment sedans to B-segment SUVs, and that another part of the customer base has shifted from the A-segment to the B-segment, as the A-segment supply has become scarce in Europe in recent years.

The A segment has been in continuous decline since the peak in sales reached in 2009, which had been caused by the introduction of scrapping bonuses following the financial crisis of summer 2008 which had plunged the market in 2009. The A segment has finally joined the E segment in terms of market share, these two segments together representing less than 15% of the total market (8% for the A segment and 6% for the E segment). Finally, the D segment has remained stable since 2009 at around 15% of the total market.

By body, SUV sales finally joined those of sedans in 2021 in Europe at nearly 50% of the market for each of these two categories. In 2010, sedans represented 80% of the European market and SUVs only 10%.

Minivans (MPV) and vans will only represent a tiny share of the market in 2021, while minivans still represented 10% of the European market in 2010.


 
    
 

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Sales in China by segment and body in 2021
Sales of passenger cars in China show that the C and D segments tend to approach each other in terms of volume, the D segment rising in a few years from 20% of the market to 37% while the C segment rose from 55% to 44% , a phenomenon made possible by the constant increase in purchasing power in China over the past ten years. The minivan segment (which is a separate category in the Chinese ranking) has shrunk a lot, from 20% in 2011 to 15% in 2016 and 7.5% in 2021. This category is the remnant of the small rustic MPV market and inexpensive which had invaded the Chinese market at the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s and which are undoubtedly victims of the increase in purchasing power in China.

The entry-level A and B segments have also lost significant market share, dropping from 15% in 2011 to 8% in 2016 and 7% in 2021, but last year A-segment sales overtook for the first time those of the B segment (4% against 3%) thanks to the electrification of the A segment and the success of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV which alone represents 2% of the Chinese market. The E segment remains relatively small, with 4.5% of the Chinese market in 2021, but this segment did not exceed 2% in 2016 and 3% in 2011. Another manifestation of the increase in purchasing power in China.

By body type, SUVs (47% of the market) and sedans (45% of the market) are neck and neck in 2021, whereas in 2011 sedans represented 70% of the market and SUVs only 10%. As for monospaces and minivans, they together represent 8% of the market against 20% in 2011.


 
    
 

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Sales in USA by segment and body in 2021
Sales of passenger cars in the United States in 2021 (which here include SUVs and MPVs while the American classification integrates these vehicles into utilities) show that the D-segment and the C-segment are now very close to each other. other in terms of market share and together accounted for more than 80% of the US market last year.

The D-segment remained relatively stable between 2007 and 2021, but fell from 37% to 46% of the market between 2005 and 2010, taking over a lot of sales from the E-segment. The E-segment saw its market share fall by 30% in 2005 to 17.5% in 2009 and stabilized at 15% of the market in the following years, until today. The C segment has steadily increased between 2005 and 2021, rising from 30% to 40%. Finally, the B segment suddenly dropped in 2020 and 2021 and this segment seems destined to disappear from the US market, like the very marginal A segment on this market.

In terms of bodywork, sedans which had relatively resisted the growth of SUVs in the early 2000s, suddenly stalled from 2015, falling from 55% of the market to less than 30% in 2021.

The SUVs which had reached a level of 40% of the US market between 2011 and 2014 saw their sales take off abruptly (by the arrival of a new offer) from 2015, going from 40% of the market to nearly 70% in 2021.

There remain monospaces (MPVs), whose sales have been declining steadily since the early 2000s, falling from 10% of the market in 2005 to less than 3% in 2021. These vehicles have been gradually supplanted by SUVs.


 
    
 

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Comparative sales Europe / USA / China by segment and body in 2021
 
    
 

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