Tesla Model Y, Volvo XC40 and BMW X1 are the most popular models in Belgium

Who would have dared to predict that an American, electric car would be the most popular four-wheeler in Belgium, like 10 years ago? Tesla has succeeded with the Model Y, the medium-sized SUV had a good lead over the Volvo XC40 built by Ghent and the BMW X1 in the first quarter of 2024. There is a big difference between Flanders, Brussels and especially Wallonia, where the Dacia Sandero remains the car best seller.

We have already talked about the increase in the number of passenger car registrations in our country in the first quarter of 2024. Then we brought statistics by brandFEBIAC has now also released it to the most popular models. And that may cause some surprise.

Big success for the Model Y

Success of Tesla Model Y that is probably no longer the case. It is by far the most popular car in Flanders, which undoubtedly has a lot or almost everything to do with its good marks in the commercial vehicle market. In Wallonia the latter is much smaller, so Tesla doesn’t even make it into the top 5. At the Belgian level, the Model Y (4,769 copies) is replaced by the Volvo XC40 (4,189), BMW ) and Audi A3 (3,218) ahead. This is followed by Citroen C3, Audi Q3, Toyota Yaris, Peugeot 308 and Volkswagen Golf.

A different story in Wallonia

If we only look at Flanders, the top 5 are Tesla Model Y, Volvo XC40, BMW the Toyota Yaris, Citroën C3 and Renault Clio obviously spend the least budget on cars. For completeness, in Brussels Volvo XC40, BMW X1, Audi A3 and Q3 and Peugeot 308 fill the top 5. So no Tesla up there either. We also have some results for each type of movement, which again covers the whole of Belgium. Dacia Sandero, Citroen C3 and Volvo XC40 are the most popular petrol cars, Peugeot 308, Dacia Duster and Volkswagen Golf are the most popular diesels and Tesla Model Y, BMW. Audi A3 scores best among plug-in hybrids, Toyota Yaris among plug-in hybrids.

Almost no diesel anymore

FEBIAC statistics provide more interesting facts. For example, electric vehicles now account for almost half of all registrations. HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs together achieved a market share of 47.2 percent. Fully electric vehicles already accounted for 23 percent, while diesel vehicles decreased to 5.5 percent. Try to make the last believe of the Belgians who have spent ten years on a deserted island. Conventional gasoline engines are still preferred, accounting for 40.9 percent.

The private sector market has been revived

What may be more surprising is that the market share of cars purchased by individuals is increasing again for the first time since 2021. In the first quarter of this year, this accounted for 38.1 percent of (total) 135,140 registrations. In comparison, at the end of last year the share was only 31.2 percent. The cooling market for commercial vehicles still reached 60.2 percent, the remaining 1.7 percent of passenger vehicles were registered by self-employed people.

Flemish premium

In conclusion, something about the impact of the Flemish government’s payment for electric vehicles (above € 40,000) by individuals. More were probably ordered than those already delivered and therefore registered between January 1 and March 31, but an increase of no less than 150.4 percent can still be observed. This is about 3,802 vehicles, compared to only 1,521 in the same period last year. No further explanation needed, we suppose?