The premium segment as a whole dropped by more than 9 percent, while large SUV brand leader Hyundai Santa Fe dipped by more than 40 percent.
Bucking the trend was BMW's X5, which increased sales 147 percent on the back of a very efficient powertrain using elements of the company's Efficiency Dynamics programnme.
The overall SUV market in Europe pretty much held up, dipping just 0.7 percent thanks to a shift towards mid-range vehicles such as VW's Tiguan. That latter has overtaken Toyota's RAV 4 as Europe's best selling compact SUV.
