The automotive sector in the Netherlands reported a 2.6% decline in turnover in 2025, compared to the previous year, new data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has found.
The decline was ‘particularly pronounced’ among importers and in the heavy commercial vehicle sector, it noted, with importers seeing turnover fall by 9.3%, and the heavy commercial sector declining by 6.4%.
The final quarter of the year was particularly challenging for heavy commercial vehicle sales, when 58.6% fewer heavy commercial vehicles were sold than in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Trade and repair
The largest sub-sector of the automotive market, the trade and repair of passenger cars, reported a 1.8% decline in turnover last year, however volumes were up 1.7%.
This was driven by a notable increase in the sale of fully-electric vehicles (+18.1%) and plug-in hybrids (+9.8%). In the final quarter of the year, sales of fully-electric vehicles rose by close to 50%, while sales of traditional petrol-powered vehicles fell by a similar percentage.
Business confidence
As Statistics Netherlands noted, for the first time in more than four years, businesses operating in the Dutch automotive sector are optimistic about future sales.
The business confidence indicator for the first quarter of 2026 stood at 5.8, compared to -5.7 in the final quarter of last year. In particular, entrepreneurs in the sector are more optimistic about expected economic conditions (9.6) than they are about changes in these conditions (2.1). At the beginning of last year, business confidence in the sector stood at -12.5.
‘The mood among entrepreneurs in the automotive industry is more positive than in many other sectors, except for the information and communication sector,’ Statistics Netherlands noted. ‘In 2024, the sentiment indicator in the automotive industry was significantly lower than in most other sectors.’
At the same time, the labour market remains tight, with more than half of automotive firms expecting workforce shortages in the first quarter of 2026, consistent with the previous year. Read more here.
