Vehicle parc developments
Recovery in the sale
of new cars
Every single month in 2010, more new cars were sold than in the corresponding month of the previous year. A total of 533,586 new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold – 21.4% more than in 2009 when the economic crisis was having an effect. In spite of this strong recovery, the number of new cars sold in 2010 was still well below the number sold in 2008, the year before the crisis, when 578,277 new cars were bought in the Netherlands.
Based on the vehicle parc – the number of cars on the road - arn can deduce how many end-of-life vehicles will have to be disposed of in the years to come. In other words, how much it is likely to cost arn to carry out its statutory tasks and safeguard the continuity of the car recycling system. In general terms, arn’s recycling responsibility extends to all four-wheeled vehicles that may be driven with a B-class driving licence and which have a maximum laden weight of 3,500 kg. The information regarding developments in the vehicle parc in this report therefore concern this section of the vehicle parc.
Vehicle parc
At the end of 2010, there were a total of 8.8 million registered cars on the road in the Netherlands. As well as an increase in new registrations via dealers, there was also explosive growth in imports. Imports increased by 22% compared with 2009.
Veteran cars
The average age of the vehicle parc is continuing to increase and is now 8.8 years. In 2009, the average was 8.6 years and in 2008 8.4 years. arn has observed a striking 9% increase in the number of so-called veteran cars – cars that are 25 years old or older. arn expects a further increase in the number of veteran cars in the Netherlands in 2011. At the end of 2010, there were 223,000 veteran cars on the road.
Dismantling
A total of 249,008 end-of-life vehicles were dismantled in 2010 – 5.5% fewer than in 2009. The reason for this fall lies in the national scrappage scheme that applied for seven months of the previous year and brought about a change in the trend. At 16.6 years, the average age of a dismantled end-of-life vehicle was slightly higher than in 2009, when the average age was 16.4 years. 2010 was the year in which the first hybrids and electric cars were offered for dismantling. 21 of these vehicles were dismantled.
Market share
Of the total number of end-of-life vehicles dismantled in 2010, 215,975 were processed through arn. This gives arn a market share of 86.7%, which is less than the 87.3% in 2009. At the end of 2010, arn had a cooperative agreement with 247 car dismantling companies. That was one company fewer than in 2009.
Export
The number of end-of-life vehicles dismantled in 2010 was lower than the number of second-hand cars exported from the Netherlands. 250,245 second-hand cars were exported, representing an increase of 9% compared with 2009. The average age of exported cars was 10.6 years. This average was also about 11 years in the preceding years. arn is monitoring the export of second-hand cars as this influences the number of vehicles to be processed.
