Netherlands September 2014: Peugeot 308, Opel Corsa & Volvo V40 fight hard

The Peugeot 308 tops the Dutch charts for the third time in 4 months.

* See the Top 170 best-selling models and Top 40 brands by clicking on the title! *

The Dutch new car market is stuck in negative territory this year: down another 4% year-on-year in September to 30,214 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 284,486 units, down 6% on 2013. For the second time in the last 4 months, Peugeot overtakes Volkswagen to become the most popular manufacturer in the country, and this time it was really close with a 17-unit advantage at 3,362 sales vs. 3,345, both carmakers accounting for 11.1% of the market. Volvo is up 4 spots to #4, Citroen up 3 to #7 and Mercedes up to #10 vs. #15 year-to-date.

Opel Corsa

The fight for the #1 model is equally tight this month: the Peugeot 308 takes the highest honours for the third time in the last 4 months thanks to 1,252 sales and 4.1% share, a mere two units above the Opel Corsa (up 22 spots on August) and 26 ahead of the Volvo V40 up 5 ranks to # vs, #14 year-to-date. The performance of the Corsa means Opel jumps to third manufacturer overall with 9.1% share vs. 6.4% so far in 2014, in a country which used to be an Opel stranglehold for decades: the Kadett led the models charts from 1982 to 1991 and the Astra from 1992 to 2000! Could this new generation Corsa actually mark the start of the much hoped-for renaissance of Opel in Europe? Many an executive at General Motors are certainly hoping so.

Tesla Model S

Another brand that makes itself noticed this month in the Netherlands is US luxury electric car manufacturer Tesla. After beginning its conquest of Europe in Norway where the Model S topped the overall sales charts not once but 3 times in the past 12 months, Tesla comes back to a level it reached last November in the Netherlands: the symbolic 1% market share here thanks to 289 units sold in September, making it the #22 brand below Hyundai and Mini and selling almost twice what Lexus sold, 2.3x Honda and 4.2x Land Rover. Understandable somewhat given the very significant tax reductions offered to electric car buyers. In the same vein, the Model S is up 53 spots on August to land at #31 vs. #78 year-to-date.

The Peugeot 108 already breaks into the Dutch Top 5 this month.

In other models charts news, only a few weeks after its original launch the Peugeot 108 is now inside the Top 5 of a second country in the world after Denmark thaks to 1,137 sales and 3.8%, also playing a big part in lifting Peugeot to #1 brand this month. Its twin (kind of – they do look different now) the Toyota Aygo is also up significantly, going from #27 in August to #11 in September at 1.8% share, the Renault Twingo also benefits from its new generation, up 40 spots to #18, the Mercedes C-Class is up 12 to #19 and the Citroen C4 Cactus is up 28 to break into the Dutch Top 50 for the first time at #44. Sales of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer (#114) are now separate from the 2 Series (#165) and we welcome two newbies in the ranking: the Lexus NX at #149 and the Nissan Pulsar at #166.

Previous month: Netherlands August 2014: Peugeot 308 leads, 108 up to #6

One year ago: Netherlands September 2013: VW Golf leads, Volvo V60 up to #4

Full September 2014 Top 170 models and Top 40 brands Ranking Tables below.