The sale of new cars in the Netherlands fell 10% last month, compared with February 2011, according to motoring organisations Rai and Bovag.

In February, 44,129 cars were bought, compared with 49,000 in the year-earlier period.
The drop is partly due to the economy and partly to changes in the rules to encourage people to buy energy efficient cars. The tax break was responsible for a 15% rise in car sales last year.