Car Sales Statistics 2014

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.