Bahrain’s car market in 2021 rises by 3.7% with 27,528 sales, reporting a very strong Q2 and Q3, followed by another loss in sales in Q4. Isuzu reports the best performance this year, gaining 69.8%.
Market Trend
Bahrain’s car market this year attempted to recover from the pandemic crash of 2020 and reported a very promising performance in Q2 and Q3, followed by another fall.
The economic crisis correlated with the fall of oil price in the international market hit the Bahrain automotive industry in 2016, with a delay compared with the other countries in the Gulf region. Indeed the market scored the all-time record in 2015, with 65,042 sales, before a sharp decline to 38,000 units in 2017.
In 2018 the market was flat while in 2019 it was again in a deep fall.
Indeed, in 2019 the economy was further hit by the government’s decision to introduce VAT tax from January 2019, with the effect to increase inflation and reduce consumer purchase power. Several consumer goods industries have declined and the automotive was certainly among them. Indeed, in the Full-year sales have been 31,836, down 18.1%.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic sales fell in 2020. In fact, 26,437 units have been sold, reporting a decline of 16.9% compared to 2019.
In 2021 the year started slightly negatively for the Bahrain market, in fact, in Q1 7,251 units have been sold, reporting a 1.5% decrease in sales compared to Q1 2020, while in Q2 sales started growing again, reporting a 23.8% increase in sales with 6,428 units sold.
In Q3 sales kept gaining 7.7% with 6,428 units, followed by a 8% drop in Q4 with 7,227 sales.
Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2021 have been 27,528, reporting a 3.7% increase compared to 2020.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Toyota (-5.9%) lost 3.3% market share, followed by Nissan (+30.8%), which gained 2.2% share, and Hyundai which lost 0.5% share, losing 3.8%. Lexus fell in 4th place and lost 19.2%, followed by Isuzu -up 2 spots- which gained 69.8%, and Honda which remained almost flat (+0.6%).
Kia lost 10.1% and fell 2 spots, followed by MG (+37.2%) and Mitsubishi which lost 4.6% sales. Closing the leaderboard we have Mazda losing 3.1%.
The most sold vehicle in the country remains the Toyota Land Cruiser with 2,429 units sold, gaining 14% sales and holding 8.8% share.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for Top 10 Brands.
