Emirates Automotive Market in 2019 has started recovering, despite the total volume is well below the record hit in the 2015. Indeed, in the Full-year ended at 263.001 sales, improving 6.2% from the previous year. BMW gained the market podium, well ahead of the rival Mercedes.
Economic Environment
UAE’s economic growth was likely tepid in the second half of last year, although firm data is still outstanding. The non-oil private sector PMI weakened throughout H2, and in December posted the lowest reading in over a decade due to meek demand conditions and weak production.
However, the oil sector should have provided some support thanks to higher output, notwithstanding OPEC+ production cuts. In other news, the UAE cabinet recently approved a multi-entry five-year tourist visa for all nationalities, which aims to create jobs and boost the tourism industry going forward.
Market Trend
Stricken by the 2008 financial crisis, the UAE vehicles market performed and outstanding growth in the period 2010-2015 more than doubling volumes from 213.072 in the 2010 to 408.154 in the 2015.
However the growth was broken by the reduced purchase power arrived in the second part of the 2015 due to the sharp decline of oil sector revenue and by the introduction of restrictive fiscal policies.
The market started to fall down in the 2016 and in the 2018, when the government introduced a 5% VAT duty, the annual volume was back down at 247.652 units.
In the 2019, as other markets in the region, the UAE market started recovering. Indeed, the Full-year ended at 263.001 sales, improving 6.2% from the previous year.
As in all the Gulf countries, Toyota is market leader since ever. However, a trend in place sees Toyota losing share in favor of several new competitors. In the last decade Toyota share declined from a record of 35.1% in the 2015 to a lower peak of 25% in 2019.
Nissan is second performing in the UAE better than in any other country in the Middle East. In the 2018 Nissan reached the record share of 21.0%, but in 2019 was back at a more normal 16.7%.
In third place the premium brand BMW and in fourth Mitsubishi, which in the UAE has a considerable gap over the traditional rival, Mercedes, which is the best selling premium brand world-wide.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models
