The corona measures affect everything and everyone. Also on the export of passenger cars. In the first 11 months of this year, the export of passenger cars from the Netherlands decreased by almost ten percent.
In the first eleven months of this year, 251,106 passenger cars were exported from the Netherlands. This is evident from figures released today by Bovag and RDC. This year, passenger car exports are already 9.5 percent lower compared to the first 11 months of last year. Striking observation: more passenger cars with a diesel engine are being shipped abroad.
About this time last year, 45 percent of all passenger cars exported had a diesel engine under the hood. In the first 11 months of this year, that percentage is 51 percent, which means that some 129,000 exported passenger cars were diesel. The share of cars with a petrol engine in the export figures is logically decreasing. Whereas in the first eleven months of last year 47 percent of all passenger cars exported from the Netherlands had a petrol engine, that percentage is 5 percentage points lower, measured over the first eleven months of this year. Exports of cars with an electric powertrain accounted for 1,442 cars in the first eleven months of this year. At this time last year, that number was 1,281. Electric cars still have a small share in exports, at 0.6 percent. The Tesla Model S accounted for around 30 percent of EV exports in the January-November period with 482 units exported. The Nissan Leaf and Smart ForTwo Electric follow a long way in second and third place with 137 and 131 exported cars respectively.
Age
The figures from Bovag and RDC show, among other things, that about 60 percent of the exported passenger cars this year are ten years or older. 11 percent of the cars exported this year come from year 2015. About twenty percent of those 5-year-old cars are the Peugeot 308. Most likely it concerns the 308 SW with 120 hp Blue HDi diesel engine, the ‘savings diesel’. of the 308 that was very popular in 2015 because the model was eligible at the time for the favorable addition percentage of 14 percent at the time.
The international corona measures have a clear effect on passenger car exports. In March, April and May exports declined by 27, 59 and 32 percent successively compared to the same months last year. In the next four months, the numbers picked up slightly, but the second corona wave in October and November resulted in less rosy figures. In October and November, exports decreased by 11 and 14 percent respectively compared to those months in 2019.
Top 10: Exported passenger cars January-November 2020
- Volkswagen Golf: 10,333 units
- Peugeot 308: 8,931
- Opel Astra: 7,032
- Volkswagen Passat: 6,870
- Renault Megane: 6,468
- Skoda Octavia: 5,270
- BMW 3 Series: 5.208
- Ford Focus: 4,940
- Renault Clio: 4,525
- Audi A4: 4,358