March of SUVs continues in Europe under threat of legislative attack

The popularity of SUVs is continuing globally and especially in Europe, despite legislation aimed at restricting the popularity of the biggest versions. The broad category encompassing SUVs from the Renault Captur all the way up to the BMW XM is expected to have accounted for more than half of all cars sold globally in 2024. The global split in 2023 was 48%, according to figures from the International Energy Agency, making it an almost dead cert that 2024 surpassed the halfway point. Hyundai, for example, has declared that last year 56% of its global sales were SUVs, up from 54% the year before, amounting to just over 2.3 million cars. That figure hit 60% in Europe, rising to 74% in the US. Overall in Europe, SUVs hit a record 54% share, with sales up 4% from 2023 figures to 6.92m, according to figures from market analyst Jato Dynamics. Compact SUVs took the biggest share of any segment, led by the Volkswagen Tiguan. In fact, a quarter of all European SUVs sold last year were made by Volkswagen Group brands. In the UK, the share was even higher, at 61%, Jato Dynamics figures show, with 1.2m registered last year, up 9% on the year before. This makes it the second largest European market for SUVs, behind Germany (1.27m). Eight out of the ten best-selling cars sold in the UK last year were SUVs, including the number-one Ford Puma and second-placed Kia Sportage. While no one is going after the Nissan Juke (fourth on the UK list), several cities across Europe have introduced more expensive parking charges for bigger vehicles. Paris residents last year voted to triple the price of parking for heavier vehicles (on the basis that heavier often means wider). EVs are exempt. Similar proposals for higher charges for bigger and higher-emitting cars are under consultation in Bristol, Cardiff and Oxford. The Paris vote cemented France’s status as the most anti-SUV country in Europe. The third-biggest car market in the region already punishes heavier ICE cars with its CO2- and weight-based ‘malus’ scheme, which can add up to €60,000 (£50,340) to the cost of a new car. From the start of this year, France has also dragged plug-in hybrids into the malus scheme, prompting a mad dash to register PHEVs before the cut-off at the end of December. PHEV was the last viable drivetrain type for makers of big ICE SUVs in France, so the new law has effectively killed the market for Land Rover and other sellers of such models. Last year, 90% of all large premium SUVs sold in France were PHEVs, according to figures from market analyst Dataforce quoted by Automotive News Europe (ANE). The proportion of Land Rover sales was even higher, at 97% PHEV. From this year, the expanded malus scheme adds a further €18,830 to the cost of the P460e PHEV version of the Range Rover Sport, JLR’s best-selling car there. EVs remain exempt from France’s scheme, judged as they are to offer an environmental benefit greater than any potential threat caused by the weight and size of an SUV body. Maybe in the future, when and if battery weight comes down, legislators will include electric SUVs in the scheme. Any future width restrictions imposed by the EU, however, will apply across all drivetrains, including EVs. Car makers have long pointed to the popularity of SUVs as the reason they continue to offer them in greater numbers than ever before. Even France is a fan of shrunken versions. Last year, the Toyota Yaris Cross was the vehicle produced in the greatest quantity in the country, according to figures from data firm Inovev. Indeed France has arguably done more than any country to popularise the small SUV, with cars like the Captur and Peugeot 2008. Environmentally focused law makers within the European Parliament’s transport committee have been eyeing up legislation to limit the width cars as SUVs in particular continue to expand in all directions. The average width of cars sold in Europe was 180.3cm in 2023, up from 177.8cm in 2018, according to data from the International Council on Clean Transportation. Right now, the EU-legislated maximum car width is the same as that for vans, lorries and buses, at 255cm, excluding mirrors. But groups representing interests of urban planning, safety and the environment have angling to change the Weights & Dimensions Directive to separate that – so far without success. Have we reached peak SUV? Jato Dynamics reports that SUV growth across Europe has been “moderating over the past three years” even as it continues to break records. Whereas diesel power did much to level the playing field for large SUVs in terms of making the fuel economy acceptable for both owners and legislators (for a while), the shift to electric power is already encouraging lower body shapes as car makers chase aerodynamic efficiency to maximise range at higher speeds. That could ease some of the antipathy towards SUVs and would be a welcome byproduct of the EV era dawning.

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March of SUVs continues in Europe under threat of legislative attack

More than half of all cars sold globally last year were SUVs; now EU is proposing to limit the width of new vehicles

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March of SUVs continues in Europe under threat of legislative attack

More than half of all cars sold globally last year were SUVs; now EU is proposing to limit the width of new vehicles

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