Compact SUVs have overtaken small cars to become Europe's second most popular segment after small SUVs in the first two months of the year, helped by increased supply and new model launches.
Across Europe, 257,131 compact SUVs were sold in the first two months, according to preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce, up a quarter from the same time last year.
Small car sales also rose, but as a lower rate of 11 percent to 253,474 in the same time frame.
Small SUV sales stood at 309,903 according to preliminary data, which covered 94 percent of the European car market.
Better supply of models was a big contributor to the growth of compact SUVs, particularly from the Volkswagen Group.
The segment-leading VW Tiguan posted a 26 percent sales increase, while sales of the eighth-placed Skoda Karoq grew 50 percent. The Cupra Formentor was 10th, giving VW Group three models in the top 10 .
The biggest gainer in the segment's top 10 was the Nissan Qashqai, which climbed to fourth from seventh after sales grew 61 percent, helped by the launch of the e-Power hybrid model (see box, below).