Average car covers 42 km a day

Cars registered in the Netherlands covered an average annual distance of more than 15.5 thousand kilometres in 2004, an increase of 2.8 percent on 2003.

Distance covered per car by weight category, 2004

Heavier cars and diesels

Cars whose weight exceeds 1,500 kg averaged 23.2 thousand kilometres a year in 2004, that is 2.5 times the average annual distance covered by cars in the weight category under 850 kg. Cars running on diesel covered almost 30 thousand kilometres on average in 2004, more than double the distance covered by petrol cars.

Distance covered per car by type of fuel, 2004

Vintage cars cover fewer kilometres annually

Cars aged 25 years and older averaged nearly 3 thousand kilometres a year in 2004. Cars in the age category 15-25 years average 3 times that distance. Most kilometres are covered by owners of recent cars.

Distance covered per car by year of manufacture, 2004

Company car: 30 thousand km annually

More than 6 million cars in the Netherlands had private owners in 2004. They annually averaged 13.8 thousand kilometres in 2004. Cars registered in company fleets (nearly 770 thousand) averaged almost 30 thousand kilometres a year. Diesel company cars averaged no less than 38 thousand kilometres in 2004. Cars running on other fuels travelled almost 35 thousand kilometres.

Distance covered per car by type of ownership and type of fuel, 2004

Company diesels average 47.5 thousand km annually

Diesel company cars manufactured in 2003 in the weight category 1,151-1,500 kg topped the list and averaged 47.5 thousand kilometres a year.

Astrid Dohmen and Frits Mullenders