Published on March 13th, 2013 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez
0Audi Q3, Range Rover Evoque, Mercedes B class made big sales gains despite downturn
European sales fell by 8 percent to 12.5 million units last year, but that didn’t diminish buyers’ appetite for premium compact vehicles. Sales of premium medium SUVs grew 24 percent to 407,512 because of strong demand for the Audi Q3 and Range Rover Evoque, according to data from JATO Dynamics. Sales of volume automakers’ medium SUVs also increased, rising 15 percent to 672,930 units helped by double-digit sales gains for the segment-leading Volkswagen Tiguan, as well as the Hyundai ix35. Another major segment that had a significant sales gain was compact premium. The recent arrivals of new generations of the BMW 1 series, Audi A3, Mercedes-Benz B class and A class boosted the segment’s sales 9 percent to 619,241 units.