More polluting cars on Dutch roads

The number of less fuel-efficient cars on roads in the Netherlands increased this year, according to industry associations Bovag and Rai Association. The associations attribute the increase almost entirely to the revised policy that removed tax benefits for buying cars, which was implemented on January 1st, ANP reports. Last year and the two years before that the Netherlands was the European leader when it came to fuel-efficient cars. Between 2010 and 2015 the average CO2 emissions by new cars declined in the Netherlands. Last year the average CO2 emissions were 101 grams per kilometer. This year, however, it is already 110 grams per kilometers. The two trade associations now question whether the Netherlands will even make it to Europe's top 3 when it comes to fuel efficient cars this year. According to them, the national tax policy seriously disrupted the car market in the Netherlands in recent years.