Number of hybrid cars continues to rise

Statistics Netherlands announced today that 156 thousand hybrid cars were registered in the Netherlands in 2014, a fourfold increase relative to five years ago. They covered an overall distance of 2.5 billion kilometres. Last year, more than 30 thousand new hybrid cars were sold, three-quarters were company-owned.

Growing number of hybrids in the Netherlands

As the number of hybrids is growing, the share of hybrids in the overall Dutch car fleet is also increasing; 2 percent last year, versus 0.5 percent five years ago. The hybrid-car fleet grew most rapidly in 2013.

Hybrid-car sales affected by tax scheme

With a total of 47 thousand new hybrids (an increase by 76 percent), 2013 was a record year. Tax benefits for fuel-efficient cars, e.g. the 0-percent additional tax scheme, exemption from road tax and the tax on passenger cars and motorcycles prompted many companies and private individuals to buy new cars based on hybrid technology. Cars were purchased earlier to benefit from the tax measures, resulting in record sales in December 2013, when 1 in 3 new cars were hybrids, versus 1 in 11 in the preceding months. After tax regulations had become stricter, hybrid-car sales fell by 34 percent in 2014.

Hybrid cars account for 2 percent of the total distance covered by cars in the Netherlands

In 2013, hybrid cars covered a total distance of 2.5 billion kilometres, i.e. 2 percent of the entire distance covered by all Dutch passenger cars. The annual average for hybrids was 17.7 thousand kilometres, more than petrol cars and less than diesel cars. It must be taken into account that hybrid cars are more often registered in the name of companies and are on average younger than other passenger cars. Generally, such cars cover longer distances.

Three-quarters of new hybrids company-owned

Just over half of all hybrids are registered in the name of a company, versus more than three-quarters of new hybrids sold in 2014.
Three-quarters of all privately-owned hybrids are owned by men. The average age of hybrid-car owners is 55.7 years. On average, they are older than owners of petrol cars (51.3 years) or diesel cars (48.3 years).