Sales of minicars in Europe decline again by 1% in 2018 to 1.24 million units, which means their share of the total European car market is slightly down from 8.1% in 2017 to 8.0%, which is not a bad performance considering there haven’t been any major updates to any of the models in this segment in 2018. Despite the lack of investment by manufacturers due to the slim margins on this kind of vehicle, the segment is expected to stabilize at this level sales until 2020.
Fiat’s dominance in this segment shrinks to a share of 28.7% with its two models, as the aging Panda lost 10% of its volume while the 500 maintains stable despite being just about as old. The decline of the Italian market and the Panda’s dependence on its home market are the biggest reason for that model’s troubles, as Italy is responsible for more than the Panda’s lost volume, meaning sales outside Italy actually increased and the share of its home market is down from 78% to 73.9%. The 500 also loses 14,000 sales in Italy but wins them back in other markets, as now just 21.2% of its European registrations happen in its home market, down from 28.5% in 2017. The Volkswagen Up! is down 3% to just below 100,000 sales but manages to hold on to its podium place that it has held ever since its first full year of sales 2012.
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