According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers, the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars improved during the first 2 months of 2016 by 14.23% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 5,586 cars. This was triggered by the 13.7% yearly increase in the number of newly registered passenger cars to 5,204 and the 22% rise in newly registered commercial vehicles to 382.
The global developments related to lower oil prices and depreciating currencies against the dollar, mostly the Japanese Yen and the Euro, led to a noticeable shift in car buyers’ demand in Lebanon in favor of the Japanese cars. As a result, Japanese cars were the most demanded cars in Lebanon in the first 2 months of 2016, grasping a 37.18% share of the total market. Meanwhile, Korean cars saw their share, going up from 30.48% in 2015 to 33.80% in 2016. European cars maintained their third rank, however with a lower market share of 23.94%, compared to 24.62% by February 2015.
However and in terms of brands, Kia kept on holding the largest share of the total newly registered passenger cars (20.47%), followed by a 15.74% stake for Toyota. Nissan and Hyundai came next in the ranking, as Hyundai grasped 13.12% of newly registered passenger cars, while Nissan held 7.24%.
In terms of sales per importer, Natco acquired the biggest bulk with a 19.07% of the total, followed by BUMC (16.09%), Century Motors (12.39%) and Bassoul-Heneine (11.76%).
Breakdown of Passenger and Commercial Cars by February
Source: AIA