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Diesel remained by far the most important fuel for new commercial vans sold in the European Union last year. According to figures from the European trade association ACEA, more than 90 percent of light commercial vehicles purchased last year run on diesel. Only 4 percent of the vans have a petrol engine. Electric-powered light commercial vehicles accounted for 3 percent of the market. The rest are hybrid models or alternative fuels.

According to ACEA, the demand for light commercial vehicles in the EU increased for all fuel types. More than 1,4 million of the diesel vans were sold. That represented an increase of more than 6 percent year-on-year. Nevertheless, diesel lost market share, as the vans that run on other fuels were even more popular.

Sales of light commercial vehicles that ran on petrol, for example, rose by a fifth. Electric-powered vehicles saw sales increase by almost two-thirds. As a result, the market share of this group increased by approximately 1 percentage point. Hybrid commercial vehicles were sold twice as much as a year earlier. These buses accounted for 1,6 percent of the market, compared to 0,9 percent a year earlier.

The plus was 10 percent for alternative fuels such as gas, LPG, ethanol and biofuels. These vehicles account for 1,4 percent of the market.

In the Netherlands, electric commercial vehicles accounted for just under 5 percent of the market. In almost 92 percent of the cases, it concerns a diesel. Gasoline engines and alternative fuels each accounted for 1,5 percent market share. Less than a percent of the market was a hybrid model.

Also read: Turnover in the Dutch car and motorcycle sector recovered strongly

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