E-segment

The BMW 5 Series, segment market leader

New Infiniti Q70

Audi A7

Audi A6

E-segment (or executive cars) is defined by European Commission^[1] as the fifth segment in European market car classification. It approximately corresponds to Full-size car and Mid-size luxury car segment in North America, or Executive car in British English acceptation.

Those cars are usually denoted for their length (equal or above 5,000 mm) and the luxury setup.

Several carmakers, especially mainstream manufacturers whose best selling models have traditionally been superminis and smaller family cars, have withdrawn from the E-segment since the 1990s. The first notable example was Ford, who discontinued the Scorpio in 1998 without launching a direct replacement, although this decision came around the same time that it purchased Volvo, who were long established in this sector, and at the time it also owned Jaguar. General Motors axed its Omega (badged as a Vauxhall on the British market) in 2003 without replacing it. Rover, when still under the ownership of BMW in the late 1990s, replaced its 800 Series and 600 Series saloons with the Rover 75, which was designed to compete at the upper end of the B-segment. Peugeot took a similar step in 2010 when replacing the 407 and long-running but unpopular 607 with a single model, the 508. Renault discontinued the unsuccessful flagship Vel Satis in 2009 without replacing it in Europe.

European Market

The current E-segment offering in Europe is limited to only 15 models. Segment has 2.6% market share in Europe, and it is dominated by the three major German brands with the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and its coupé version Audi A7 and the Mercedes E Class and its coupé version Mercedes CLS.^[2]

The Volvo V70 and Jaguar XF also sells appreciably.

The VW Phaeton has not been a great seller for VW Group, when Tesla launched with success its Tesla S electric variant.

FCA Group has attempted to re-badge the Chrysler 300 as a Lancia Thema in Europe, with limited success. Different for the luxury brand Maserati which re-entered the segment with Maserati Ghibli, best performer in 2014.

Other models include:

See also

References

1. ↑ "REGULATION (EEC) No 4064/89 - MERGER PROCEDURE". Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg. 
2. ↑ "European car sales analysis February 2015 – models". http://left-lane.com/.