Significantly more used cars were imported from abroad in the past year than a year ago. The import of used cars was also higher than in 2019.
In 2021, 294,119 used cars were brought from abroad and put on a Dutch registration. That is more than 35 percent more than a year earlier, when there were still 216,688 cars. This is evident from figures from Bovag and RDC. According to the Bovag, the sharp increase can largely be explained by the increased demand for used cars from the specialist trade. This in turn is partly a result of the long waiting times for new cars due to the worldwide chip shortage, but also the still greater desire for own transport due to corona. In 2021, only slightly fewer used cars were sold in the Netherlands than in the record year of 2020.
Second-hand imports fell slightly in 2020 (more than 5 percent) compared to a year earlier, but 2021 was well ahead of it. To put it further into perspective: in 2015 only 152,500 used cars were imported (more than 64,000 less than in 2021) and in 2013 only a mere 99,000 (about 117,000 fewer).
More EVs, fewer diesels
It is striking that considerably more electric cars were imported last year than in 2020: 9,652 compared to 4,460. This means that the electric car now accounts for 3.3 percent of imports, so still a marginal part. The vast majority of imported used cars have a petrol engine (three quarters, almost 220,000 cars). Plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars accounted for an eighth of imports (34,669). Diesels are on the decline, for the first time that share was less than 10 percent: 29,062 cars.
Most popular brands and models
Again, the preference is mainly for German brands. Germany has also traditionally been the number 1 import country. As with used car sales, Volkswagen again turned out to be the most popular brand on the import market. Spacious even. The three most popular models also come from Volkswagen. Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW barely differed in numbers.
Brands
- Volkswagen (47,751)
- Audi (20,800)
- Mercedes Benz (20,749)
- BMW (20,059)
- Ford (18,573)
Models
- Volkswagen Golf (12,052)
- Volkswagen Polo (9.994)
- Volkswagen Tiguan (5,707)
- Nissan Qashqai (5,330)
- Renault Captur (5,195)
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl