Dutch sales statistics reached an all-time low in 2020, but those for 2021 are even sadder. In 2021, 322,831 new passenger cars were sold in the Netherlands, according to figures from RAI Association, Bovag and RDC. There haven’t been that few since 1967.
In the past year, 322,831 new passenger cars were registered in the Netherlands, another 9.2 percent less than were registered in 2020 (355,431 units). 2021 will go down in the automotive history books as the year with the lowest car sales since 1967 when 263,588 sales contracts were signed. 2019 was the last full year of sales without a pandemic, resulting in chip shortages that severely hampered car production and delivery. In that year, 455,217 new passenger cars were sold.
In total, 64,027 of the new passenger cars registered in 2021 were fully electric. The EV thus accounted for a market share of 19.8 percent. In 2020, 78,858 new electric cars were registered, representing a market share of 20.5 percent. As in previous years, another run on new electric cars took place in December. In December 2021, a total of 35,708 new passenger cars were registered, about 21,000 of which were EVs, which means that almost 33 percent of all EVs sold this year were registered in December. In December 2020, 42,290 cars were registered by 15.6 percent more, while 29,319 were fully electric.
Bovag and the RAI Association expect the chip shortage to continue this year and express the hope that the market will recover after the summer. The sales forecast for 2022 is 390,000 new passenger cars.
Tax changes
The addition for the private use of a business electric car has been increased with effect from 1 January. As of January 1, 2022, you will no longer pay a 12 percent addition on the first €40,000, but 16 percent on the first €35,000. The addition for petrol and diesel cars remains unchanged (22 percent). A purchase subsidy has been set up for both new and used electric cars. The subsidy pot is filled with an amount of €91.4 million. €71 million of this is earmarked for new electric cars, which means more than 21,000 new EVs. €20.4 million has been reserved for a subsidy for the purchase of a used electric car. Bovag and RAI Verenging say they expect the market share of electric cars in total sales this year to be between 20 and 30 percent. You can read everything about these SEPP grants here.
Most popular car brands 2021
Until November this year, it seemed that Kia would become the most popular car brand in the Netherlands in 2021, but Volkswagen won the final sprint in December. The difference between the two brands is only about 1,000 cars.
| Brand | Amount | Market share | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 31,059 | 9.6% |
| 2 | kia | 30.028 | 9.3% |
| 3 | Toyota | 23,022 | 7.1% |
| 4 | Peugeot | 20,283 | 6.3% |
| 5 | skoda | 20.215 | 6.3% |
Most popular cars 2021
Kia sees the title ‘most popular brand in the Netherlands’ narrowly pass by, but with the immensely popular Niro, it is by far the most popular car in the Netherlands. In addition, Kia has not one, but two models in the top 5 sales. In fourth place we find the Picanto. Volvo’s XC40 takes second place, no doubt helped by the success of the electric Recharge versions of the SUV.
| Brand | Fashion model | Amount | Market share | |
| 1 | kia | Niro | 10,812 | 3.4% |
| 2 | Volvo | XC40 | 8.448 | 2.6% |
| 3 | Volkswagen | Polo | 8.09 | 2.5% |
| 4 | kia | Picanto | 7.929 | 2.5% |
| 5 | skoda | Enyaq iV | 6.621 | 2.1 % |
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl