The lease car market in the Netherlands soared 13% last year, and 1.1 million cars on the Dutch roads are now being driven by people who are not the actual owners, according to new figures from the lease car agency umbrella group VNA.

The number of private individuals opting to pay a fixed amount each month for a car rose 25%, and now they now account for 188,000 vehicles, the VNA said.

The number of business leases rose 9.5%, with vans accounting for a large proportion of the increase.

It is the second year in a row that the lease car market has grown significantly. ‘It hink we will get a similar growth figure this year,’ chairwoman Renate Hemerik said.

‘This is partly because consumers have embraced the concept of private leasing, and partly because the cabinet is trying to get more people into electric cars.’

The VNS says that over half the 100,000 plus electric cars on the Dutch roads have been leased.