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December’s lively bounce in electric car registrations, thus setting a 4th successive all-time high for any
month on record, suggests that at least in some parts of Europe the autoindustry’s closely watched electric
car venture is finally set to roll and appears on first sight to have gained some long overdue traction.
At first sight, that looks plausible.
However, these same figures, under closer scrutiny, also suggest that the sudden implied bullishness of December’s West
European electric car market is not quite what it seems.
That’s partly because December’s encouraging turnout was due in no small measure to one special factor.
578
Tesla Model S December sales in
the Netherlands
A boom in low emission car sales in the Netherlands.
December’s Dutch electric car sales party, some market commentators now believe, is likely to yield a
lingering hangover during this year’s opening quarter, and the reasons are all too easily spotted.
New car buyers in the Netherlands beat a path to the nearest car dealer in order to beat the December
31st deadline for notable tax handouts to be had for ultra-low emission cars.
The resulting eleventh hour rush crowned the Netherlands as December’s biggest
electric car market in Europe.
That follows a near sevenfold jump in registrations to a continent-leading 1,884 units.
The Opel Ampera had 703 units registered in the Netherlands in December according to official
figures.
December’s runner-up slot went to the Tesla Model S with 578 registration, followed in third and
fourth slot by the BMW i3 and Renault’s ZOE with respective December registrations of 225 and 205
units...more
MORE
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DATA
AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS WITH THIS ARTICLE:
West
European new electric car sales:
by country DECEMBER 2013 VS DECEMBER 2012
by country FULL YEAR 2013 VS FULL YEAR 2012
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