New car sales fall 7 pct.

The sales of new cars in the Netherlands fell by 6.9 percent in 2014 to 387,835 new cars sold. This is according to the industry organizations BOVAG, RAI Association and RDC and Central Bureau Mobility Information. Like last year, the decrease was dampened by a little sprint in the last month of the year. This was mainly due to the growing demand for compact, fuel-efficient cars, due to the increases in the purchase tax BPM this year. Despite this, 2014 was the second worst year in the books since 1969, reports knowledge bureau Aumacon. The worst year was in 2009. According to trade associations, 2014 was a difficult year and the industry did not benefit from the slightly increasing consumer confidence. BOVAG and RAI expect a slight increase to 400 thousand new cars in 2015. Aumacon think that 390 thousand new cars will be sold this year. Despite the disappointing sales, the total vehicle fleet in the Netherlands rose to a record high of nearly 8.2 million passenger cars.