The most popular new cars in the Netherlands so far

The first three quarters of 2023 are behind us and so we can see how things are going so far this year. In September, Kia could call itself the brand that managed to register the most new cars in that month. Tesla once again had the most popular car of the month with the Model Y. But which car models and car brands have accounted for the most registrations so far this year?

This year, 286,778 new passenger cars have already been registered in the Netherlands. The Tesla Model Y and Kia Picanto are battling it out monthly for the top position this year, but the Model Y has come out on top so far. In the first three quarters, the Tesla Model Y accounted for more than 10,000 registrations. From January to September, no fewer than 10,291 Model Ys received a license plate. This gave the Tesla a market share of 3.6 percent. This also means that the Tesla Model Y is the most popular electric car in the Netherlands to date.

The Kia Picanto follows at a relatively wide distance in second place. So far this year, 8,205 Kia Picantos have been registered, making the compact Korean good for 2.86 percent of the car market. In places three to five you will, not surprisingly, come across the Peugeot 208, Volvo XC40 and Lynk & Co 01. However, the Peugeot 208 is hot on the heels of the Picanto. The compact Peugeot – of which an electric version is also sold – lags behind the Kia by only 22 units. The distance between the 208 and number four – the Volvo XC40 – is considerably greater at 2,060. These five most registered new passenger cars together accounted for approximately 13.5 percent of the market.

Most popular new cars – Q1 to Q3 2023

Most popular brands – Q1 to Q3 2023

So far, it is not Tesla or Kia that is in the lead, but Volkswagen. That is quite striking, since Volkswagen does not have a single model in the Top 5 of most registered models. Volkswagen does have a lot of runners in its range. For example, 5,467 units of the Polo were registered and models such as the Up, which is only available from stock, reached an astonishing 2,925 units. With 2,485 registrations, the Golf lags slightly behind the ID3 (2,525 units). The ID4 received 3,114 registrations. Other models that sell well at Volkswagen are the T-Roc (2,649 units), the Tiguan (2,445 units), the Taigo (1,895) and the T-Cross (1,302 units). Volkswagen had a market share of 9.4 percent.

So far this year, Kia remains 1,200 registrations behind Volkswagen and is in second place with 25,665 cars registered so far. Kia also has several models of which a thousand or more units are registered. For example, the ever-popular Niro achieved 5,380 registrations and the Sportage 3,357. The Ceed, EV6 and Stonic were successively good for 2,618, 2,168 and 1,930 registered units.

Toyota is in third place with 19,461 registered cars. Strong Toyota cars include the Aygo X, which with 4,608 registrations is the brand’s most popular car this year. It is closely followed by the Yaris Cross (4,540 units). Behind this we find the Yaris (3,454), the Corolla (2,911) and the C-HR (1,466).

Places four and five go to Peugeot (17,094 registrations) and Renault (15,533 copies). In addition to the 208, Peugeot can of course thank the 2008 for its performance on the Dutch market. There are 4,249 registered copies. The 308 (1,821 units) and the 3008 (1,250) are the only Peugeots of which more than 1,000 units were delivered this year. At Renault, the Clio sits on the registration throne with 3,266 copies. However, the Captur (3,020) and the electric Megane E-Tech (2,914) already come quite close. Despite its age, the non-electric Mégane Estate managed to reach 1,407 registered units and is behind the Arkana (1,468) and Austral (2,914).