Netherlands Full Year 2018: New gen lifts VW Polo to #1, Jaguar i-Pace holds 13.1% share in December
The VW Polo posts its third ever annual win in the Netherlands.
Consult over 35 years of Dutch Historical Data here.
New car sales in the Netherlands post a second consecutive year of growth in 2018 at a sturdy +7.1% to 443.812 units. Local association BOVAG predicts a similar 440.000 sales for 2019. Volkswagen (+16.9%) lodges a 14th consecutive win in the brands ranking, vastly outpacing the market to hit 11.3% share and distancing Renault (-5.6%), Opel (+4.6%) and Peugeot (+2%) in an unchanged Top 4. Kia (+13.4%) overtakes Ford (+4.1%) and Toyota (-2.5%) to break into the annual Top 5 while Volvo (+14.1%), Skoda (+13%) and BMW (+9.8%) all beat the market in the remainder of the Top 10. Further down, the two best performers are Jaguar (+234.5%) and Tesla (+161.7%) thanks to a last minute rush in December 2018 due to a change in taxation put in place on 1 January 2019 that is less advantageous for luxury EVs: Jaguar then ranked #1 brand with 13.2% share (+4720%) and Tesla #2 with 11.1% (+296%). Lamborghini (+137.5%), Ferrari (+85.2%), Jeep (+49.3%), Mitsubishi (+38.6%), Nissan (+23.2%), Seat (+12.6), Hyundai (+10.4%) and Mini (+10.2%) also stand out.
The Jaguar i-Pace was the best-selling vehicle in the Netherlands in December.
Over in the models ranking, the new generation lifts VW Polo sales up 68.5% and 7 spots on 2017 to earn the nameplate its third ever annual win in the Netherlands after 2010 and 2011. The Renault Clio (+1.9%) is knocked down to #2 ahead of the Kia Picanto (+14.3%) and Ford Fiesta (+23.9%) both very strong. The Opel Karl (+2.7%) rounds up the Top 5 whereas the VW Up! (-7.6%) and Golf (-3.3%) are kicked out of the podium. Inside the Top 20, the Kia Niro (+28.7%), Peugeot 108 (+24.8%) and Hyundai i10 (+14.7%) also shine but the biggest surprise of the year actually occurred in December when the Jaguar i-Pace topped the sales charts outright with 2.621 registrations and 13.1% share, obviously making the Netherlands the first country to crown the model, and the Tesla Model X ranked #2 with 1.558 sales and 7.8% share due to a change in tax regime (see above). The i-Pace ends the year at #31 and best-selling 2018 launch while the Model X is #48 (+140%). Other spectacular annual results include the Tesla Model S (+174.6%) at #21, the VW T-Roc (+7417.5%) ending its first full year at #31, the Opel Crossland X (+131.7%), Nissan Leaf (+559.3%), Opel Grandland X (+1006.6%) and Suzuki Swift (+109.6%). Finally, notice the arrival of the Audi e-Tron directly at #29 in December.
Previous month: Netherlands November 2018: Nissan Leaf, Jaguar i-Pace soar in market down 7.7%
Previous year: Netherlands 2017: Clio second Renault to top annual charts in 36 years
Two years ago: Netherlands 2016: VW Golf holds off Renault Clio by 50 sales
Full Year 2018 Top 45 All-brands and Top 365 All-models vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.
Full December 2018 Top 35 All-brands and Top 245 All-models below.
