By: Annemieke Bos, Erwin Rexwinkel
05 Nov 2026 5 min read
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The Dutch automotive market is changing rapidly. In 2025, 388,024 new passenger cars were registered, 1.7 percent more than in 2024. Fully electric cars accounted for 156,139 registrations and a market share of 40.2 percent. Hybrid vehicles totalled 175,779 registrations and 45.3 percent. Together, electrified drivetrains represented 85.5 percent of all new registrations in the Netherlands.
Yet this figure shows only part of the reality. At the start of 2025, the Dutch passenger car fleet comprised over 9.6 million vehicles, of which 6.1 percent were fully electric. By August 2026, that share had risen to 8.2 percent, equating to 770,453 fully electric passenger cars. The shift in newly sold cars is therefore progressing much faster than the change in the overall fleet.
That difference is commercially relevant. Dealers, maintenance companies, importers, leasing organisations and parts suppliers will have to keep supporting multiple drivetrain technologies side by side for the foreseeable future. At the same time, they must invest in knowledge, systems and infrastructure for a fleet that changes gradually. The transition is therefore not a straight line from old to new, but a period in which multiple business models coexist for an extended time.
Electric and software-driven vehicles require investments in technical knowledge, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, data and new service concepts. At the same time, it is not always clear how quickly customers will switch, which technologies will become dominant, and how fiscal measures will influence the moment of purchase. BOVAG and the RAI Association point out that fiscal choices visibly affect the pace of the Dutch market.
This uncertainty makes investment decisions more complex. Investing too late may result in loss of competitiveness, while investing too early or too narrowly may create capacity for which demand lags. Organisations therefore need more than one basic scenario to make future-proof decisions.
After a 2.6 percent decline in revenue in 2025, revenue for the Dutch automotive and motor sector grew by 13.9 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared to a year earlier. Trade and repair of passenger cars grew by 19.2 percent, while trade in car parts shrank by 1.4 percent. The differences between subsectors are therefore becoming increasingly pronounced.
For executives, revenue development alone is not the most relevant factor. The central question is which activities truly add value, how much working capital they require, and which investments are needed to remain competitive. Growth without sufficient control over margin and cashflow can in fact increase an organisation’s vulnerability.
Vehicles are increasingly defined by software, data, sensors and connectivity. The European Commission explicitly identifies AI, software, sensing, communication and digital services as technologies that are altering the competitive landscape within automotive. At the same time, it observes that Europe risks falling behind in batteries, software, infotainment and autonomous driving.
This development affects more than just product innovation. Data governance, cybersecurity, intellectual property and digital capabilities are increasingly becoming boardroom issues. Organisations must determine which technologies they want to master themselves, where collaboration is necessary, and which risks can be allocated to suppliers.
The transition requires different competencies, while existing technical expertise remains scarce. Software development, battery technology, electronics, data and cybersecurity are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, maintenance, production and engineering surrounding existing vehicles will continue to be necessary for years to come.
This calls for strategic workforce planning. The question is not only how many employees are needed, but above all which knowledge will be decisive for the organisation’s success three to five years from now. Retraining and knowledge retention thus become just as important as attracting new talent.
In 2025, more than one million cars produced in China entered the European Union. Chinese cars accounted for 7 percent of all car sales in the EU and 20 percent of fully electric vehicle sales. Competition is not only about price but also about development speed, battery technology, software and economies of scale.
For Dutch organisations, the strategic question thus becomes broader: can existing cost structures, distribution models and decision-making processes remain competitive with market players that develop vehicles faster and approach sales, data and services in fundamentally different ways?
In a predictable market, an organisation can focus on maximum efficiency. In a market where technology, regulation and customer demand change simultaneously, adaptability is equally important. This means that scenarios must not only map financial outcomes, but also provide insight into the impact on capacity, employees, technology and supply chain partners.
Resilience does not mean that every activity must be flexible. It means that executives know which parts of the organisation are crucial, which dependencies are acceptable, and at what moment corrective action is needed.
Electrification, digitalisation, talent development and regulation are not separate change programmes. They compete for the same investment capacity and affect the same operational processes. That is precisely why sustainable value is created when organisations manage these issues in an integrated way.
Develop three integrated scenarios for the next three to five years. Translate each scenario into revenue, margin, liquidity, capacity, competencies and investments. In doing so, you create a decision-making framework that goes beyond forecasting alone. It helps to identify sooner when the organisation needs to adjust its course, and which decisions are required to do so.
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European car manufacturers and suppliers are restructuring under the pressure of weakening demand, rising costs, electrification and increasing global competition. For Dutch companies that are part of international automotive supply chains, this is not a distant development.
