Not so few new cars have been sold since the 1960s as in 2021. The counter remained at 322,831 copies. That is 9.2 percent less than in 2020 (355,431) and no less than 28 percent less than in 2019, the last corona-free sales year. Electric car sales also lagged in 2021: 64,027 compared to 72,858 in 2020.
The problem is not so much that the Dutch do not buy/lease new cars, but that the importers do not get them delivered. Due to the worldwide shortage of computer chips, car manufacturers are forced to reduce production. This also has consequences for business drivers, who would have liked to have their electric cars in 2021 to benefit from the 12 percent addition. However, a large number will only receive the car this year and therefore pay a 16 percent addition.
Electric cars mainly registered again in December
Last year, electric cars had a market share of 19.8 percent. In 2020 that was still 20.5 percent. Most registrations took place in December, as every year. Last month there were exactly 21,000. In 2020, that number was 29,319. The best-selling electric cars of 2021 are the Skoda Enyaq (6621 units, 10.3 percent EV market share), Kia e-Niro (5879, 9.2 percent), Volkswagen ID.4 (4215, 6.6 percent), Ford Mustang Mach-E (4142, 6.5 percent) and BMW iX3 (2733, 4.3 percent).
Volkswagen overtook Kia at the last minute
Kia (30,028 cars) was on track to become the best-selling brand in the Netherlands again, but Volkswagen (31,059) still took the lead with a final sprint. Toyota (23,022), Peugeot (20,283) and Skoda (20,215) complete the top five. The most popular car is still the Kia Niro (10,812), followed by the wonderful Volvo XC40 (8448). The Volkswagen Polo (8009), Kia Picanto (7929) and Skoda Enyaq (6621) also performed exceptionally well in 2021.