WE NEED CITY CARS – AND ALWAYS WILL

City cars may not be as profitable as SUVS, but they are perfectly placed to answer the huge questions the industry must face on the environment and in meeting a growing desire from consumers for car sharing in cities.

It’s no coincidence that 30% of all EVS sold in China – the world’s largest EV market and a country with emissions issues – are city cars. The market there points the way for the rest of the world.

That may take time – but that is no barrier to their survival. Last year, the average CO2 emissions of city cars registered in Europe totalled 105.5g/km. Although that’s an increase of 1.6g/km on the 2017 result, city cars still had the lowest emissions of any segment. For comparison, small SUVS produced an average of 122.3g/km.

That means city cars are an essential part of the strategy to reduce emissions in the short and medium term, especially when electrification is taking longer than expected.

In fact, European city car sales remain buoyant. Volumes have been consistent during the past seven years, sitting between 1.15 million and 1.25 million units. And although their market share fell from 8.9% to 7.8% in 2018, that was still higher than the segment’s market share between 2000 and 2007.

Because almost half of city car registrations come from car rentals, fleets and company cars, their profitability is definitely lower than that of their bigger siblings. But some of that is offset by the fact that they are often produced in factories where labour costs are lower or made as part of joint-venture projects.

There is no doubt city cars have a future.