The Netherlands is the most expensive place in a comparison of 11 European countries to run a family car, according to research by car lease group Leaseplan.

The research focused on C-class family cars driving 20,000 kilometres a year and calculated they cost upwards of €660 a month if petrol driven and €800 for a diesel version. In Germany, by contrast, the same petrol-driven car would cost €416 a month.

Motorists have little impact on some 70% of the cost of running a car, Leaseplan said. Some 36% of the cost is derived from the write-off value, followed by taxes (20%) and fuel (16%).

Leaseplan calculated the information in the survey from the cost and performance of its own fleet of lease cars.