Netherlands December 2014: Peugeot 308 & Volvo V40 shine

The Volvo V40 holds a record 9.1% share of the Dutch market in December…

* See the Top 150 best-selling models and Top 35 All-brands by clicking on the title *

New car sales in the Netherlands won’t have managed to turn the corner this year: down another 6% year-on-year in December to 36,424 registrations which brings the final 2014 total to 387,835 units, down 7% on 2013. Brand-wise, Peugeot remains on top with 13.7% share, followed by Volkswagen at 11% and Volvo exceptionally strong at 10.1%. Skoda (#4), Fiat (#6) and Seat (#7) also shine while Tesla is back inside the Top 20 at #20. As it has been the case for two years now, it is important to keep in mind the Dutch market is skewed by preferential pricing attributed to the most eco-friendly variants of some models. This pricing impacts not just the car but also the overall amount of tax the car buyer is paying and can mean a model goes from no sale one month to #1 the next as one variant entered the preferential pricing list.

… while the Peugeot 308 hits an all-time high 10.2% share.

In this context, the Peugeot 308 not only manages to stay in pole position for the 6th time in the past 7 months but also reaches a record 10.2% market share thanks to a massive 3,704 sales. The Volvo V40 is equally impressive at an all-time high (in any country in the world including Sweden) 9.1% share and 3,331 units, the Skoda Octavia is up to 7.1% share at #3, the VW Golf is two percentage points above its annual market share at 6.2%, the Seat Leon is up 11 spots on November to #5 and 4.5% and the Fiat 500 is up 13 to #6 and 4%. This means the Top 5 December best-sellers each lodge higher market shares than the FY2014 #1 (VW Golf at 4.2%) and the Top 6 add up to a momentous 41.1% of the Dutch market, usually extremely fragmented.

The 2 Series Active Tourer is BMW’s best-seller in the Netherlands again.

Notice also the Peugeot 108 at #13, the Tesla Model S at #22, Citroen C4 Cactus at #24, Lexus CT at #30, Nissan NV200 at #39, BMW 2 Series Active Tourer at #40 – the brand’s best-seller in the country for the 2nd straight month, the BMW X1 at #58, the Nissan Pulsar (#73) Ford Ecosport (#90) and Lexus NX (#99) all breaking into the Dutch Top 100 for the first time and the Jeep Renegade down 5 ranks to #101 but still accounting for 77% of all Jeep sales in the country.

Previous month: Netherlands November 2014: 2 Series Active Tourer BMW’s best

One year ago: Netherlands December 2013: Outlander at 12.7%, Volvo V40 & V60 on podium

Full December 2014 Top 150 models and Top 35 All-brands Ranking Tables below.