New cars mainly bought by companies

Companies bought nearly 26 percent more new cars in the second quarter of 2012 than in the corresponding quarter of 2011. Purchases by private individuals fell by 7 percent in the second quarter of 2012. In this period two out of three new cars were bought by companies.

New car sales

More new cars bought by companies

Of the 166 thousand new cars sold in the second quarter of 2012, 108 thousand were bought by companies. Relatively more new cars are sold to companies than to individuals. Of all cars registered in the Netherlands one out of ten is registered to a company. On 1 July 2012 the tax change for cars went into effect, involving the BPM exemption on fuel-efficient new cars and motor vehicles, and the private use of company cars. This led to an exceptionally high number of car sales in June.

New car sales, share of companies and private individuals

Companies buy more new hybrid cars

In the second quarter of 2012 companies bought 39 percent more new hybrid cars than in the corresponding quarter of 2011. In total over 10 thousand new hybrid cars were sold in the first half of 2012, three quarters of them were registered to companies. On 1 January there were close to 69 thousand hybrids registered, less than 1 percent of all cars.

Sales of new hybrid cars

New electric cars mainly sold to companies

In the first half of 2012 nearly 500 new electric cars were sold, of which 95 percent to companies. On 1 January a total of 1,460 electric cars were registered.

Ger Moritz