And the Model Y Doesn’t Even Count
For a long time, the small SUV was the most popular car type in Europe. However, that baton seems to be definitively passed to the compact SUV, which, despite that name, is a lot bigger than its little brother.
According to dataforce figures, compact SUVs and crossovers accounted for 803,204 cars sold in the first four months of 2025. This segment, which you may know from the Volkswagen Tiguan (number 1) and Nissan Qashqai (2), is thus for the second time in a row larger than that of the small SUVs and crossovers. Cars such as the Dacia Duster and the Toyota Yaris Cross are the top performers there. So there seems to be a clear trend, with the larger family cars now winning from the smaller high-legged ones.
The battle between these two segments is also influenced by the somewhat strange choices that Dataforce makes here and there. However, these are certainly not in favor of the compact ‘Qashqai segment’, but rather to its disadvantage. For example, the Automotive News’ figures vehicle counts the Tesla Model Y among the larger SUVs, and that until recently very popular EV therefore does not count for the compact class. We would absolutely also place the Volkswagen T-Roc in that (C-) segment, but Dataforce counts it among the small models. The lead of the compact class could have been somewhat larger, but even so, this is the largest segment in Europe. This consists of the EU, the United Kingdom and the countries of the European Free Trade Association together.
Anyone who finds this fuss about segments interesting should definitely stare at the table under this story for a while. For example, you can also see that coupés and convertibles (1 category) went over the counter less again in 2025, but that the Volkswagen T-Roc is all-powerful here. Salient, because the T-Roc Cabrio is disappearing. You can also see that compact hatchbacks remain very popular and that France (together with Renault subsidiary Dacia) is all-powerful here. The Fiat Panda is doing remarkably well in the smallest class, undoubtedly due to the large influence of its home country Italy.