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Danes buying cars like never before

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Danes buying cars like never before
Photo: Thomas Rousing/Flickr"

The country known internationally as a cycling mecca set an all-time vehicle purchase record in 2015, helped by a rush to purchase electric cars before their tax breaks expired.

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Danes bought 207,717 automobiles in 2015, setting a single-year record for car sales, the Danish Car Importers Association (De Danske Bilimportører – DBI) announced on Monday. 
 
The figure marks the first time ever that the number of purchased vehicles topped 200,000 and represented a ten percent increase over the year before. It was the seventh year in a row in which vehicle sales increased over the previous year. 
 
The sales boom was in part boosted by a rush to purchase electric cars before a phase out of tax breaks will send the price of some electric models skyrocketing. 
 
Tesla, which has vowed to fight the government’s plans, was the major benefactor of the year-end rush. The Tesla Model S became the most-sold car in December, the first time ever that an electric vehicle took that distinction. The cost of the Tesla S P85D will more than double with the expiration of the electric vehicle tax credit. 
 
As a whole, 4,327 electric vehicles were sold in 2015, a record that nearly tripled the 2014 totals. 
 
DBI said that interest in vehicles was spiked not only by the dropping of the electric car tax but also by the government’s decision to lower Denmark’s 180 percent car registration tax to 150 percent
 
 
DBI called the tax registration drop “a step in the right direction” but urged the government to make further concessions to car owners. 
 
“With an intelligent reform, many more [Danes] could drive a car that is a bit larger and with better security features without further damaging the environment,” the organization’s CEO, Gunni Mikkelsen, said. 
 
The ten most popular car models among Danes in 2015 were:
  1. Volkswagon Up!
  2. Peugeot 208
  3. Toyota Aygo
  4. Peugot 108
  5. Peugeot 308
  6. Kia Picanto
  7. Volkswagon Polo
  8. Volkswagon Golf
  9. Toyota Yaris
  10. Ford Feista 

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