Over 1.7 million cars were sold or changed hands in the Netherlands in 2025. Data released by Statistics Netherlands reveals a highly segmented market heavily dictated by household income, vehicle age, and regional geography.

The vast majority of the 1.7 million transactions involved used cars. Roughly 1.55 million cars were used or transferred between owners. Only 148,000 cars were purchased brand new.

While the electric transition is a major topic, conventional fuels still dominate total ownership transfers. Nearly 1.4 million of the total cars sold ran on petrol. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and fully electric vehicles (BEVs) totaled 259,000 units.

Luxury EV adoption remains disproportionately tied to high earners. The top 20% of earners purchased nearly half (almost 123,000) of all the plug-in vehicles. Conversely, the lowest 10% of earners bought only about 6,000 plug-in units, leaning heavily toward older, diesel cars instead.

The Dutch market has a strong preference for older vehicles due to pricing. The most frequently purchased tier consisted of cars 16 years old or older, exceeding 395,000 transactions.

Cars aged 1 to 2 years were the least frequently bought, accounting for just 137,000 transactions. Two-thirds of the cars bought by the poorest 20% of earners were over a decade old, whereas a quarter of the cars bought by the richest 20% were under two years old.

Car sales and ownership changes varied significantly by Dutch province. Zuid-Holland ranked 1st with 325,000 cars sold. Noord-Brabant ranked 2nd with 268,000 cars sold, while Noord-Holland ranked 3rd with 236,000 cars sold. Flevoland (49,000) and Zeeland (41,000) recorded the fewest transactions.

To combat the criticism that green driving subsidies only benefit the wealthy, the Dutch cabinet is utilizing a €52 million budget over three years. Launching in late 2026, a new low-and-middle-income scheme will allow households to trade in old petrol or diesel cars for a second-hand fully electric car subsidy.