Belgium raked in €11 million in 2021 from vehicle owners willing to pay for a name or personalized messages on their vehicle registration plates.
Last year, a record-setting 11,021 Belgian drivers paid €1,000 to receive a federally-issued plate bearing a message, within reason, on their vehicles, La Libre reports. The fee does not include the standard €30 cost of plates.
In 2019, Belgian officials processed 6,500 new personalised vehicle registration plates, The Brussels Times reported.
Related News
- €125 fine for dirty vehicle registration plates
- Nearly 120,000 fewer new cars registered in Belgium in 2020
It seems that officials also know how much is too much to charge for a vanity plate. In 2015, Belgium’s Minister of Mobility hiked the cost of this personal touch up to €2,000 but demand plummeted to about 2,000 requests per year, earning the country only €4 million, La Libre reported.
In 2017, the price was lowered to €1,000 and demand picked up, most notably among luxury car owners. In total, 36,265 Belgian vehicles bear a personalized plate, according to FPS Mobility and Transport. More than 30,000 of these are on passenger cars.
By the numbers
BMW owners are the most likely to splash out on a personalised plate. At the end of 2021, 5,299 of the 417,000 registered BMWs displayed personalised plates. Mercedes Benz was second, with 5,192 out of 396,000 registered vehicles.
However, FPS Mobility and Transport notes that Porsche drivers are the most likely to put a special message on their plates. At the end of 2021, one in every 12 Porsche drivers – 3,627 out of 45,500 registered vehicles – sported a personalised registration plate.
Of the 12 Lamborghini’s registered in Belgium, four cruise around with personalised license plates.
Owners of more moderately priced vehicles are also partial to the plates. Volkswagon, Ford, Dacia, Suburu, and even a solo Datsun have these.
