Old-style number plates will disappear in three years

Old-style car licence plates will have disappeared from the street scene within three years, according to the motoring organisation Febiac.

Since November 2010 every new car registered in Belgium has been fitted with EU-style plates, which precede the old-style six symbols – three numerals and three letters, or vice versa (see photo, top) – with a single numeral, beginning in 2010 with the number 1 (bottom). 

Since then, Febiac said, 60% of the cars on Belgium's roads – 3.1 million of the entire fleet of 5.4 million – now carry the new plates. If replacements continue to be made at the same rate, Febiac calculates, old plates will be gone by 2016.

The same does not apply, however, to other vehicles such as vans, trucks, minibuses and coaches, which have been replaced at a much lower rate, as such vehicles tend to change hands less than cars do.