The small SUV segment consolidated its market-leading position in Europe in 2022, increasing its lead over small cars amid a further swing away from traditional body shapes, new figures show.
Led by Volkswagen, Dacia and Peugeot, small SUVs posted sales of 1.89 million in 2022, according to data market researcher Dataforce, a 1.4 percent increase on 2021 in a year that saw overall sales fall by 5.7 percent as supply chain problems hampered production.
The segment was topped by the VW T-Roc, ahead of the Dacia Duster. The small SUVs finished at No. 3 and No. 9, respectively, in the full-year ranking of overall by-model sales in Europe last year.
A big driver of the growth in the segment was the Toyota Yaris Cross, which added almost 110,000 sales to the category to take fourth position behind the Peugeot 2008.