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The annual number of vehicles sold in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2019 was approximately *** thousand vehicles. In comparison, the annual vehicle sales in 2014 were about *** thousand vehicles in the UAE.

GCC automotive overview

  The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region has a dynamic automobile sector that is one of the faster-growing sectors in the region, primarily owing to the growing population and high disposable income coupled with significant infrastructure developments. The largest market in the region is Saudi Arabia as they have the most sales of vehicles and auto parts. Although the sector is likely to experience a slowdown in the short-term due to the current weak economic conditions, the long-term outlook remains strong. The GCC economies are facing challenging times due to reasons like the global economic slowdown and fluctuating oil prices. Just like other sectors, the automobile sector in the GCC saw a drop in sales in 2016 due to the decrease in oil prices and was expected to recover in the following year. Despite a recent slowdown in demand for automobiles in the backdrop of sluggish economic conditions, the region continues to offer immense opportunities in the areas of automotive manufacturing, aftermarket, and new technology development.

UAE automotive overview

The UAE vehicle market saw an increase in the number of commercial vehicles, reaching ** thousand units in 2019, and a fleet size of passenger cars of almost *** million vehicles in 2018. The demand for vehicles in the country mainly originates from the construction, infrastructure, logistics, tourism, and public transport sectors. The major infrastructure projects in Dubai, such as the Dubai World Expo project, and several other commercial and housing projects caused the commercial vehicles sector to grow in 2019.

The UAE is also a profitable market for luxury car brands such as Mercedes, Range Rover, and Porsche due to the high per capita disposable income and favorable insurance and taxing regimes. However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused distress in economies worldwide. This was reflected as a sharp decrease in the automotive sales in the UAE, along with the decrease in oil prices in the international market which the UAE’s economy highly depends on. Car sellers started introducing new methods to promote car sales such as online bookings and test drives at the customer’s place of choice.