New car sales drop in July, but almost half are fully electric

New passenger car registrations in the Netherlands declined in July from a year earlier, even as fully electric vehicles accounted for nearly half of the market, according to figures from industry groups BOVAG and RAI Vereniging and data firm RDC.

Just over 28,000 new passenger cars were registered in July, a 2.6 percent drop from July 2025. Fully electric car registrations exceeded 13,000, giving them a 47.3 percent market share. Hybrid vehicles held a 44 percent share.

“You can imagine that consumers are looking at alternatives to cars with a combustion engine,” a RAI Vereniging spokesperson said. “There are more and more fully electric cars available, and they also have more and more range. That offers possibilities.”

The electric Skoda Elroq was the most registered model in July, followed by the Kia Picanto and the Kia EV3. Kia, Toyota, and Volkswagen ranked as the top three brands by registrations last month.

Through the end of July, 202,469 new cars had been registered this year, down 4.1% from just under 212,000 in the same period of 2025.