Two EVs top Netherlands’ passenger car ranking in April

Both vehicles leading the Dutch passenger car ranking are battery-electric, namely the Kia EV3 and the Skoda Elroq. While EVs made up a third of all new registrations last month, the overall growing EV uptake appears to have plateaued. Notably, Tesla’s sales figures dropped sharply.

According to the latest data from BOVAG, RAI Vereniging, and RDC, fully electric cars accounted for 33.9 per cent of all new passenger car registrations in the Netherlands in April. A total of 9,206 BEVs were registered—up just 1.5 per cent year-on-year—pointing to a stagnating trend. This figure also sits slightly below the Q1/2025 BEV share of 35.3 per cent.

Leading the overall passenger car ranking across all powertrains was once again the Kia EV3, with 871 units registered in April. The model established itself as the country’s bestseller in the first quarter. In stark contrast, Tesla’s registrations plummeted by around 74 per cent year-on-year, down to just 382 units compared to 1,457 in April 2024.

While Q1 already signalled a downward trend for the brand, the drop was far less dramatic: Tesla registered 1,660 Model 3 units (-37% YoY) and 1,752 Model Ys (-58% YoY) in the first quarter of the year.

The overall Dutch passenger car market declined by 4 per cent in April, with 27,157 new registrations recorded. This follows a 10 per cent drop in Q1. Looking at the powertrain breakdown, hybrids (including plug-in hybrids) dominated, with 13,329 registrations (+6.4% YoY), making up 49 per cent of the market. BEVs followed with a 34 per cent share (9,206 units), ahead of petrol cars at 14 per cent (3,901 units). Diesel (613 units, 2%) and LPG (110 units, 0.4%) continued to play a marginal role.

A closer look at the model ranking reveals that the battery-electric Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq were the two best-selling cars in the Netherlands last month, with 871 and 843 registrations respectively. The Elroq achieved this result immediately upon entering the market, having only recently become available. Rounding out the top five were the Kia Niro (628 units), Kia Picanto (625), and Toyota Yaris Cross (499), underlining Kia’s strong presence. Meanwhile, Tesla and Volkswagen were largely absent from the April charts.

Focusing solely on BEVs, the third to fifth places were taken by the Volvo EX30 (371 units), Renault 5 (368), and Ford Explorer EV (304). The compact EV frontrunners—Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq—accounted for nearly 19 per cent of all electric registrations in April. The top five electric models combined captured a 30 per cent market share, indicating that the remainder of EV sales are spread across a wide range of models.

bovag.nl