Long-time leader Opel drops to third place in Dutch car market

AMSTERDAM - The Volkswagen car brand has topped the Dutch charts for the fourth consecutive year now although the number of units sold dropped by nearly 8 percent from 2007 sales figures. Ford placed second with 43,550 cars, pushing GM’s German-made Opel to the third spot with 40,870 cars. Opel placed first in the Dutch car market from 1969 through 2004. Brand names such as Dacia, Honda and Mini netted the largest increases in numbers while Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Saab and Kia lost market share. Among car models, Volkswagen Golf was the most popular, followed by the Peugeot 207 and Opel Corsa.