Stellantis still wields gargantuan influence across European highways, but if you look past CEO Antonio Filosa’s polished pitch decks, August’s sales figures tell a far stranger, split-personality story.
On one side of the showroom, the automotive behemoth continues to flex its muscles in the compact car arena. Holding down a formidable 32 percent market share in Segment B, brands like Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, and Fiat are proving that Europeans still love small, manageable hatchbacks. The ever-reliable Peugeot 208 even managed to post positive year-over-year registration growth for the month, proving that old habits die hard.
However, the moment you step out of the hatchback corner and wander over to the SUV showroom, the narrative takes a sharp left turn off a cliff. Considering SUVs accounted for nearly 48 percent of all new European vehicle registrations in August, losing ground here is a full-blown crisis.
Stellantis closed out the month with a painful 9 percent volume drop in the SUV category. Adding insult to injury, arch-rival Volkswagen Group seized the momentum, growing its SUV sales by 16 percent to capture a dominant 28 percent market share.
The Peugeot 3008 plunged by 39 percent compared to last August, the Opel Grandland shed 29 percent, and the Citroën C5 Aircross slipped 16 percent. Over at Jeep, the damage was downright apocalyptic: the Renegade collapsed by 42 percent, while the Compass suffered a staggering 53 percent drop. Apparently, European drivers are deciding that American-flavored off-road nostalgia isn’t worth the sticker price anymore.
Granted, it isn’t total doom and gloom. The Peugeot 2008 climbed 27 percent, while Opel’s Mokka and Crossland jumped 25 percent and 21 percent respectively, keeping Stellantis in second place overall in the European SUV hierarchy.
If you need a silver lining, look at the electric side of things: the tiny Fiat 500e quietly snatched fourth place among Europe’s top-selling BEVs, trailing only Tesla’s juggernaut Model Y and two Volkswagen electrics.
