Figures provided by industry experts JATO have revealed that while lower and upper-medium segments are in decline overall in Europe, models such as MPVs, luxury vehicles and off-roaders are gaining ground.
Europe's best-selling car is the Peugeot 206, with the Volkswagen Golf taking the number two slot. But for the year to October, compared with the same period in 2002, the lower-medium segment is down 9.1%.
The mini segment is down 11.63% and only the supermini segment bucks the trend, with sales up 7.26%, although they were down in October. The Nissan Micra is leading the way, with sales up nearly 60% for the year-to-date.
The premium lower-medium segment is down by 4.6%, while the upper-medium segment is down by 9.8% and the premium upper-medium segment has fallen 7.5%.
Skoda's Superb has bucked the trend in this market, with sales up nearly 47% for the year-to-date, mainly because of strong sales in Germany.
But although the luxury segment is down 3.9%, sales of so-called high-luxury cars, including the Mercedes-Benz S-class, are up 16.9%, way ahead of the rest of the market.
Small MPVs are up nearly 2% and larger MPVs, such as the Peugeot 807, have rocketed nearly 12%.
Sports cars are also enjoying a boom, including the Mercedes-Benz CLK, with sales up 7.6%.
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