- The European car market 17 countries experienced a decline of 2% in 2013 compared to 2012, a smaller decline in 2012 compared to 2011. Since 2007 this market has decreased by 22%.

- When analysing the evolution of the European market segment by segment between 2000 and 2013, we can see that the volume of each and every segment has declined, but segment D declined more than others (-41.7%). Only segment F maintained its levels between 2000 and 2013 (stable). Segments C and B , however, only declined slightly and remain well ahead of other segments.

- C and B segments have increased their penetration rate between 2000 and 2013 (from 34.7% to 38.8% for segment C and from 25.8% to 30.5% for segment B). Segments D and E saw a decrease in their market share (from 18.9% to 13.3% for segment D and from 10.4% to 7.4% for segment E). The segments A and F remained quite stable (from 9.6% to 9.3% for segment A and from 0.6% to 0.7% for segment F).

- To sum up, the gap between segments B-C and segments A-D-E-F increased significantly between 2000 and 2013. Besides known factors (rate of use, congestion, purchase prices ...), diversification of bodies (essentially MPV and SUV / Crossover) has probably enhanced the attractiveness of vehicles from segments B and C.