According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers (AIA), the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars declined by an annual 1.81% to stand at 15,022 cars by May 2017. The downtick came on the back of the 3% yearly drop in the number of newly registered passenger cars to 13,836 and the 14.59% uptick in newly registered commercial vehicles to 1,186.
Japanese cars were the most demanded cars in Lebanon in May 2017, grasping a 37.08% share of total passenger cars. Also, Korean cars were second in the ranking with a market share of 31.65% by May 2017, while European cars maintained their third rank with a market share of 22%.
In terms of brands, Kia held the largest share of newly registered passenger cars (21.7%), followed by an 11.69% stake for Toyota. Hyundai and Nissan came next in the ranking, as Hyundai grasped 11.67% of newly registered passenger cars, while Nissan held 8.76%.
In terms of sales per importer, Natco acquired the biggest bulk of registered cars with 19.99% of the total, followed by Rasamny-Younis Motor (13.19%), BUMC (12.24%), and Century Motor Co. (11.11%).
Breakdown of Passenger and Commercial Cars by May
Source: AIA