Cars New and Used in Netherlands (2024)

FAQs

Which car is popular in Netherlands? ›

Netherlands May 2024: Volvo up 56.7%, Kia Niro repeats at #1

The Kia Niro is the best-selling vehicle in the Netherlands again. The Dutch new car market skid a harsh -13.9% year-on-year in May to 28,361 units, meaning the year-to-date tally slips into negative at -1.2% to 158,421.

We hate to break it to you, but owning a car in the Netherlands is really expensive — especially in larger cities. The average hourly rate is €2.80 an hour, but you can expect to pay €3-4 an hour in cities like The Hague, Utrecht, and Rotterdam, and as much as €7.50 in Amsterdam city centre.

Massive levels of tax on new cars and a super tax on oil-burners too. Travelling abroad to buy does not help as you still have to pay the tax on import. You can easily end up worse off doing this, as the base price of the car in NL before tax is actually quite low.

Although the Netherlands is a country well known for its high levels of bicycle use, car ownership is high, and increasing: 74% of households own at least one car (15), and the number of cars has grown rapidly in the last 20 y (from 5.6 million in 2000 to 7.9 million in 2022) (36).

The Netherlands consumer association – the Consumentenbond – has named Lexus the country's most reliable car brand after the manufacturer took the number one ranking in its 2020 survey. Lexus achieved an average score of 8.8 in the 2020 study into the reliability of cars up to 10 years old.

In addition, German cars are often a lot cheaper to buy than Dutch cars.

In 2022, the average price for a new petrol car was approximately 33,300 euros in the Netherlands. Passenger cars with hydrogen electric fuel cells were the most expensive, costing 44,400 euros on average.

Yes, a foreigner can buy a car in the Netherlands. You can even put a car in your name with a foreign driving licence. You will need to have one of the following legal documents, however: ID or driving licence from an EU or EVA country.

General road rules

It is also mandatory to keep the following items in your car while on the road: A valid driving license (rijbewijs) Vehicle registration card or certificate (kentekenbewijs) Registration certificate or code (tenaamstellingsbewijs)

Switzerland had the highest price tags on new passenger cars sold in 2020, overtaking Norway for the first time in five years. Swiss people had to dig deeper into their pockets than any of their European neighbors, with prices roughly 15,000 euros higher than the EU-28 average.

Are cars common in the Netherlands? ›

But still most families would own at least one car. We still have more cars on the road than people though and lots of traffic standstill on the highways. And parking in city centres (like Amsterdam) is very expensive. So all in all I would still answer, yes, Dutch people do have a lot of cars.

In the Netherlands, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 34 984 a year, more than the OECD average of USD 30 490 a year. In terms of employment, about 78% of people aged 15 to 64 in the Netherlands have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 66%.

If you live and work in the same city, a bicycle or e-bike may be the perfect means of transport for you. This is normal in the Netherlands and it is a safe, fast way of getting around.

The Peugeot 208 is now Europe's most popular car, knocking the VW Golf off its perch. And perhaps surprisingly, the Golf hasn't fallen to second place, but fifth, with the Dacia Sandero in second place, the T-Roc - Europe's best-selling SUV - and the Fiat 500, primarily in its electric guise, completing the table.

When you think of the Netherlands, your first thought is of windmills, canals, tulips, cheese and the Dutch Masters. That makes sense, as these cultural icons are world-famous and really should not be missed when visiting our country.

Grey most popular Dutch car colour.