World’s Top 20 SUV manufacturers, but where’s Land Rover?
- Gareth Herincx
- @garethherincx
- Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share via email
- •
- 274 reads
- •
- 2,221 views
- •
- 8 min read
Prepare to be surprised – you’re about to start a countdown of the world’s biggest SUV brands, based on sales of 27.85 million in 2017.
Depending on where you live on the globe, you could well be left scratching your head, because quite a few legendary 4×4 names don’t make it into the Top 20 – Land Rover, Suzuki and Mitsubishi to name but a few.
Fasten your seatbelts. Using 2017’s final figures, collated by automotive analysts JATO Dynamics, here are the biggest-selling SUV brands in the world…
20) Buick - 476,861 registrations
As American as you can get, Buick’s premium range of SUVs all start with an ‘E’. Kicking off with the small Encore, it’s then up to the best-selling Envision (pictured), followed by the Enclave and big Enclave Avenir.
19) Baojun - 514,004 registrations
Baojun is one of China’s fastest-growing vehicle brands and is part of the giant SAIC-GM-Wuling group. Launched in 2017, the Baojun 510 (pictured) was the second best-selling SUV in China during January with 58,006 units.
18) Peugeot - 543,850 registrations
Peugeot’s SUVs range from the 2008 to the big 5008, with the very attractive 3008 (pictured) sandwiched in between. So good is the 3008 that it won European Car of the Year in 2017.
17) Changan - 557,999 registrations
Chang’an, to be exact, is considered to be one of the Chinese ‘Big Four’. SUVs are the big sales driver for the car manufacturer which recently became the first Chinese company to announce that it is ending sales of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2025.
16) Renault - 602,833 registrations
French manufacturer, Renault, is a truly global company and it’s the Captur (also known as the Kaptur) which is the brand’s biggest SUV seller. 2017 also saw the addition of the flagship Koleos, while the mid-sized Kadjar also sells well.
15) Geely - 630,532 registrations
Chinese car giant Geely (which also owns Volvo, a large chunk of Lotus and the company that makes London black cabs) manufactures a range of cars including the Boyue (pictured) which was the 20th best-selling SUV globally in 2017. It’s about the size of a Honda CR-V and features an unusual front grille of concentric rings.
14) Mazda - 663,730 registrations
Mazda’s superb new CX-5 was the 10th best-selling SUV in the world in 2017 and the most successful car in the range. The CX-5 sits between the CX-3 and big CX-9 (not available in the UK) in the range.
13) BMW - 668,325 registrations
The 10th biggest-selling car company globally in 2017, is also the 13th largest in the SUV league table. The German giant’s ‘X’ family of SUVs continues to be a strong growth driver with the X1 leading the way. New for 2018 is the X2 (pictured).
12) Audi - 670,186 registrations
The global increase in demand for Audi’s ‘Q’ models was a big sales driver for the Four Rings in 2017. More than one in three Audi models sold was an SUV. The Q5, which sells particularly well in China, was the 27th most popular SUV in the world in 2017.
11) Mercedes-Benz - 766,603 registrations
Officially the world’s biggest premium car maker after a strong 2017, Mercedes-Benz was spurred on by strong demand from its key markets – China, Germany and North America. The C-Class based GLC (and its Coupe sibling) was the German company’s biggest-selling individual SUV model in 2017 with sales of 325,644.
10) Kia - 670,186 registrations
The excellent Sportage was Kia’s most popular SUV in 2017, and the 11th biggest selling SUV globally. The South Korean brand’s other SUVs include the little Stonic, Niro and recently-refreshed big Sorento.
9) Great Wall - 859,349 registrations
Great Wall is China’s largest SUV and pick-up truck producer. The best-selling SUV in China, also known as the Haval H6 and Hover H6, is the Great Wall H6 (pictured) – a rival to the Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan X-Trail. The H6 was also the 9th most popular SUV worldwide in 2017 with sales of 509,102.
8) Volkswagen - 868,862 registrations
The second biggest car producer in the world, VW also has a successful SUV range, topped by the best-selling Tiguan which was the fourth most popular SUV globally in 2017 with sales of 695,383.
7) Chevrolet - 900,613 registrations
Iconic American car brand Chevrolet’s SUV range includes the Trax, Equinox, Traverse, Tahoe and Suburban. The Equinox (pictured) is the biggest-seller globally with 379,602 registrations.
6) Hyundai - 1,196,099 registrations
South Korea’s Hyundai owes more than half its entire 2017 SUV sales worldwide to the success of the Tucson (573,937). Other SUVs in the range include the baby new Kona and the big Santa Fe (273,303).
5) Jeep - 1,388,493 registrations
Legendary US off-road brand, Jeep, has no less than four vehicles in the Top 20 SUVs of 2017 – the Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Renegade and new Compass (pictured) helping it on its way to nearly 1.4 million sales globally.
4) Ford - 1,570,217 registrations
The Blue Oval has a large SUV range, starting with the EcoSport, Escape (Kuga in the UK and the best-selling Ford SUV in the world with registrations of 644,622), Edge, Explorer (pictured) and Expedition. The latter two are not available in the UK, but the Explorer alone sold 320,695 units.
3) Honda - 1,825,032 registrations
With two SUVs in the Top 5 biggest-sellers of 2017, it’s no surprise to find Honda flying so high in the Top SUV brands league table. For the record, in 2017 a massive 749,151 CR-Vs were registered, plus 689,798 HR-Vs (also known as the XR-V and Vezel).
2) Nissan - 1,850,045 registrations
Nissan topped the league table of best-selling SUVs of 2017 with the X-Trail (pictured, and also known as the Rogue) clocking up a stunning 814,495 registrations. The Japanese car giant also shifted 515,718 smaller Qashqai models (Rogue Sport). Impressive.
1) Toyota - 1,944,413 registrations
Toyota was officially the biggest maker of SUVs (and cars generally) in 2017, with the RAV4 (second best-selling SUV globally) leading the way. Year-on-year SUV sales for Toyota were up a massive 30%.
Land Rover
Noticed some big names missing? Ask anyone in the UK and they would say that Land Rover was one of the biggest-selling SUV brands in the world. Land Rover, combined with Range Rover, had a great 2017 with sales up 7% to 406,376, according to automotive analysts JATO Dynamics, but that was only good enough for 24th spot in the league table of biggest global SUV brands.
Suzuki
Another honourable mention for Suzuki with 418,901 SUV registrations globally in 2017 (23rd spot overall). The Japanese brand is well known for its range of budget 4×4, including the popular Vitara (pictured).
Mitsubishi
The maker of the Outlander, Shogun and new Eclipse Cross (pictured) was another famous 4×4 brand missing from the Top 20 biggest-selling SUV brands of 2017. Despite a 17% rise in registrations to 444,103, it was only good enough for 22nd spot.