United Arab Emirates now considered as a fast growing market
within a world as far as automobile industry are concerned in 2014, mainly automobile dealer remains in the fast
lane in term of sales and expected to closed 2014 within approximately equal to
380,000 vehicles compared to 336,000 units in 2013.
Latest data shown that US, UK, Europe include India
witnessed car sales growth at 4.6 percent eight per cent, 1.4 per cent and 10 per cent,
respectively, but UAE car sales growth reaches 13 percent in 2014, top automobile
dealer said their average growth in car sales was more than 20 percent in 2014.
Automobile dealers confirm that 2014 was a record breaking
year in the UAE and most of them record best sales within this year, which is
comprehensive from all aspects, they assumed that an increasing population, an
attractive product portfolio and new showrooms were among the sales drivers.
Regarding 2015 that dealer’s assumed that it’s also considered
as a best year in term of sales because of new models, new showrooms and
opportunities for more sales. Despite such optimism, automobile dealers expect
only single-digit growth for 2015, compared to double-digit growth in 2014.
They are observing market is not too big and there are
several options for customer in each segment of vehicles, aggressive marketing
campaign will play a major role in driving sales this year.
Sales performance in
2014
The year 2014 adds a golden charm, set new records for top
UAE automobile dealers as they experienced record growth, in some cases of up
to 36 per cent in sales and an increase in market share.
Jon
Williams, managing director of Al-Futtaim Motors, said 2014 has been a very
good year for Al Futtaim Motors. Light commercial vehicle [LCV] sales saw
excellent growth.
“By
November 2014, LCV sales had grown by 16.5 per cent year-on-year, and we expect
this to grow further. This is a reflection of the market stability, leading to
increased commercial activities across businesses in the UAE.”
Ewan
Ramsay, general manager of Galadari Automobiles, said: “2014 saw good growth
for Mazda. We recorded significant year-on-year rise in new car sales and
after-sales business last year. The used car business continued to deliver
steady performance while the rental business registered strong double-digit
growth.”
Maurice
Williams, CEO and managing director of General Motors’ Middle East operations,
said: “We are on a continued successful path of growth in the region. In the
UAE, our results are even stronger than last year’s. GM’s three brands,
Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC, are up 18 per cent [January-October 2014] compared
to same period in 2013.”
“Sixty
six per cent of our current sales is from the Chevrolet portfolio. The
Chevrolet product line-up covers all segments from car A to sports car, to
full-size SUV and to full-size pick-up,” Williams said.
Mohammed
Khader, president of Al Majid Motors Company – Kia, said: “Kia UAE launched
four new and face-lift vehicles in 2014, namely the all-new Soul and the
face-lift version of the Optima GDi, Cerato Koup GDi and Sportage. These
premium automobiles boast the highest grade of specification for their
respective price points and have created a better market share for the company,
with 2014 expected to be around 18 per cent greater than our market share in
2013.”
Michel
Ayat, chief executive of Arabian Automobiles, said calendar year 2014 has
witnessed a growth of 12 per cent [January-October].
“The
UAE market went from 299,851 units in [January-October] 2013 to 336,185 units
during the same period in 2014. The industry volume in 2014 is expected to
close at 403,000 units, at 12 per cent growth over 2013 surpassing the GCC
automotive market growth of nine per cent.”
Johannes
Seibert, managing director of BMW Group Middle East, said MW and Mini sales
increased 24 per cent for the period from January to November. 27,637 cars were
delivered to our customers in 12 markets in the Middle East where we have
business operations.
“BMW
is the No.1 brand in the premium segment in the region, and has gained further
segment share. We are on track to achieve another record-breaking year, which
is a result of the strength of our brands. We are very content with the results
of 2014.”
Axel
Dreyer, president of Juma Al Majid Est – Hyundai, said the passenger car
segment, especially the B&C segment, experienced excellent growth, mainly
due to a good response from the corporate sector.
“Retail
sales in this segment also increased substantially, with recorded growth of
over 15 per cent year-on-year. Furthermore, the launch of the new Sonata in
September reflected positively on our sales performance.
“The
luxury segment [Genesis and Centennial] grew 25 per cent year-on-year. The SUV
segment showed a very positive response from the market. Since the launch of
the Santa Fe, this segment with the help of Tucson and Grand Santa Fe has
contributed to the growth. The Santa Fe itself grew by 27 per cent
year-on-year.”
Challenges, Opportunities, Sales 2015
This year, consider as a challenging year for selling
vehicles, but all leading players ready for handling situation they’re willing
to sales this year will bring better opportunities to them.
New models will be opportunities to increase sales, but the
market is competitive. With numerous options in the same vehicle class,
marketing campaigns will play an important role in consumers’ purchase
decisions.
Jon Williams said “There
has been a slight increase in inflation, expected to rise by a further two per
cent in 2015, however, this is usually offset by the increase in disposable
income which should help maintain healthy growth trends for auto sales in the
UAE. In 2012, more than 245,000 vehicles were sold, an increase of 25 per cent
over 2011. In 2013, we saw that figure increase to over 350,000 vehicles,
thanks largely to the increase in GDP following Dubai winning the nomination to
host Expo 2020. We are well on track to see this trend continuing for 2014, and
well into the next.”
Galadari
Automobiles’ Ramsay said: “The franchised brands and OEMS still have challenges
in exposing businesses in the UAE which trade in fake and counterfeit parts and
which represent potential safety issues for the consumer.”
Maurice
Williams said: “The industry has been doing well across the region in 2014. A
challenge in the UAE for auto manufacturers is finding a way to continuously
raise the bars for our customers. To do this, we’ve been putting our customers
at the centre of everything we do — continuing to provide great vehicles that
suit their needs and ensure they receive a world-class customer experience at
their dealership.”
Khader
said Kia has experienced progressive growth over the years to enjoy its
current status as one of the leading auto brands in the UAE.
“We
believe Kia’s success will be maintained through our programme of new vehicle
launches that we expect will attract more customers. In 2015, we will be
bringing to the market five new and face-lift automobiles.”
Ayat
said: “2014 saw far more opportunities than challenges as the market witnessed
an evident growth in the demand for automobile sales across all models. SUVs
and crossovers grew in popularity and witnessed a 14 per cent growth. The
growing trend of SUVs is expected to continue, resulting in the sales of SUVs
overtaking passenger cars in the future.”
Dreyer
said the competition in the UAE automobile industry between local dealers is very
intense.
“Most of our competitors launched new
models within the same category in 2014. Hyundai UAE implemented different
marketing campaigns to attract customers to new models in our existing range
that had undergone makeovers. We are expecting more challenges next year, as
the market is now even more open for competitors.”
Auto Parts
Markets in UAE
This is
actually expected as market creeping up for purchasing new car’s from several
brands auto parts market will exceed on highest level as a demand will raise
for purchased genuine parts directly from authorized dealers, due to this
purpose all dealers must have to do something especially for covering the
aspect’s from the core, so they open authorized frenchized which mainly deal in
genuine parts within United Arab Emirates especially in dubai city so demand
will be full filled immediately this will allow auto spare parts industry for
stepping in creating records in sales which was expected handsomely after the success of Automobile industry within UAE.
