Over 19 pct. drop in auto sales

Automotive sales in the Netherlands is headed for the lowest number of new cars sold since 1969. In comparison to last year, new car sales has dropped with over 19 percent in 2014, an estimation first made by Aumacon in anticipation of decreased sales in the beginning of this year. According to reports by Aumacon, Rai and Bovag, auto-dealers in the Netherlands have seen a decrease of 6.9 percent in new car sales, hitting a new 45-year low. Aumacon Director, Clem Dickmann has said that the industry was hit with consumer pessimism during the economic recovery. The decrease in sales might be a result of the extremely high number of new cars sold in the last months of 2013, according to the report. The drastic drop in sales is also closely related to the increased taxes for all lease cars in 2014. Peugeot has been ranked the top-seller in the month of November this year, with the French company currently holding 12.1% of the market. Volkswagen is shortly on it's heels with 10.8%, Renault holds 9.0%, Citroën with 6.8% and Opel taking 6.1% of the new car sales market. The Dutch government was warned that further unrest in Ukraine or the Middle East could possibly worsen the prospect of the fragile economic growth forecasted for 2015.