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A Deep Drive into the SUV Market
20th May 2024
As experts in the automotive location planning industry, at GMAP, we thrive on exploring trends and changes in the automotive sector through our use of DVLA Data. Having been resellers of the anonymized DVLA car registrations dataset for the past decade, we have conducted numerous geodemographic analyses within automotive location planning projects and supplementing projects in the retail industry.
This analysis will focus on new SUV vehicles (Sports Utility Vehicles) in the UK, a sector of the automotive industry which has seen significant change and rising popularity in the modern automotive markets. The growing popularity of SUVs is likely a consequence of multiple factors including: increasing car finance options; increasing demand for electric vehicles (which are commonly SUVs); and their perceived comfort and luxury.
The SUV Market Summarised
Since Q4 2018, more than 2.6 million new SUVs have been purchased in the UK, with Nissan, Kia, Audi, Land Rover, and Hyundai emerging as the top five most purchased brands for this category of car. Among these, the Nissan Qashqai, a compact SUV, stands out as one of the UK’s best-selling cars, celebrated for its reliability, comfort, and customizable features. Similarly, Audi’s Q range of SUVs and Hyundai’s Tucson range are gaining traction, especially with the increasing availability and affordability of their electric versions and range of addons.
In the past five years, compact SUVs like the Nissan Qashqai have emerged as dominant players. These models offer a smaller footprint, typically being more fuel-efficient or electric, and being more easily manoeuvrable in suburban environments, whist retaining the comfort and versatility of larger SUVs. Land Rover, focusing on luxury, has committed to achieving full electrification by 2030 in response to growing customer demand and government policies, increasingly emphasizing the development of more efficient compact SUVs to meet this goal such as the Range Rover Evoque.
Since Q4 2018, petrol-powered SUVs have dominated the market, with approximately 1.2 million purchases. However, hybrid electric SUVs emerged as the second most common type, representing around 600,000 new purchases. Fully electric SUVs, though gaining traction recently, ranked fourth in popularity with approximately 200,000 new purchases. This marks a significant shift from diesel dominance over the past two decades. With many of us at GMAP
being environmentally minded and opting for electric vehicles, we are eagerly anticipating further evolution in propulsion types of SUVs over the next five years.
Estate and 5-door hatchback models dominate the UK SUV market, accounting for around 2.4 million of the total 2.6 million new SUV purchases. These models prioritize interior space, facilitating ample load-carrying capacity and versatility
for various outdoor activities, often a key requirement for SUV drivers. Coupe SUVs rank as the third most common body type but represent fewer than 100,000 new SUV purchases, primarily associated with specific BMW X and Range Rover models, limiting their widespread popularity.
The SUV Market over time
Quarterly total new SUV sales have exhibited sporadic patterns over the past five years, experiencing a significant decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, with less than 60,000 units purchased at its lowest point, where many people’s income dropped, travel reduced significantly, and many workers switched to remote work.
However, sales are now showing signs of recovery as employers encourage workers back into the office, and travel is unrestricted.
Seasonal variability
in total new SUV purchases per quarter is common in the automotive market, typically peaking when new models are released around the end of Q1 and Q3 and declining in Q2.
Both compact and large SUV models exhibit similar trends at both annual and quarterly levels, although these changes are more pronounced in more popular compact SUV models, with unsurprising peaks in Q1 and Q3.
Despite a trough experienced in 2020, SUV sales have shown growth each year, and we anticipate that they will increasingly dominate the automotive market in the coming years.
Interestingly, when analysing sales over time by the top 5 brands based on overall sales, their quarterly sales generally show a decreasing trend.
This trend could be attributed to their initial dominance in the industry, yet now are facing increasing competition from other brands releasing more SUV models. With the growing demand for SUVs in general, and particularly electric vehicles, other manufacturers such as BMW, Volvo, and Mercedes are entering the market with their luxury electric series.
Our Thoughts
Despite slightly falling numbers in the top brands, the increasing popularity trend overall is clearly illustrated when filtering to SUVs of different propulsion types. Hybrid electric-po wered SUVs accounted for approximately 10,000 new SUV sales in Q4 2018 and have since become the most common form of propulsion for new SUV sales in Q4 2023, reaching around 60,000 units. In contrast, diesel sales have experienced a significant decline from approximately 60,000 in Q4 2018 to about 10,000 in Q4 2023. This shift is a response to UK government policy
mandating the total phase-out of new diesel vehicles by 2035, aimed at reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality. Petrol-powered SUV sales have also decreased, from over 80,000 to around 50,000 by Q4 2023. Although petrol vehicles are also subject to this policy, their decline has been relatively less pronounced due to limited electric infrastructure and their ability to meet other requirements such as clean air zones more frequently.
Fully electric SUVs have shown remarkable growth, rising from almost zero sales in Q4 2018 to nearly 20,000 by Q4 2023, indicating promising future expansion. However, hybrid electric vehicles are also included in this legislation, suggesting that these charts may undergo further changes in the coming years, with an expected exponential increase in market share for fully electric SUVs.
When comparing segments, sales of large SUVs have remained relatively stable since Q4 2018, ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 units per quarter. In contrast, compact SUVs are experiencing slight growth, reflecting the trend towards hybrid and fully electrified vehicles in this category.
Conclusion
Another essential aspect of DVLA data
not covered here is its integration into geographical regions, enabling sales segmentation by UK post districts and post sectors. At GMAP, we seamlessly integrate DVLA data into our location intelligence tool, MVPLUS, enhancing geodemographic analysis across the automotive industry and beyond. For more information about MVPLUS, DVLA data, or our other location intelligence solutions, reach out to us at info@gmap.com.
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