According to the Association of Lebanese Car Importers, the number of newly registered commercial and passenger cars during the first five months of 2015 declined by 2.30% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 15,093 cars, compared to 15,448 by May 2014.
This is on the back of the 2.31% yearly decline in the number of newly registered passenger cars to 14,222 (94.23% of the total newly registered cars) by May 2015. Furthermore, the number of newly registered commercial cars slipped at a slower pace by 1.91% y-o-y to 872, over the same period.
Since the overlying factor of the depreciating Euro and Japanese Yen vs the Dollar, it is quite evident that there was an alteration in the market share of cars according to their countries of origin. Japanese cars were the most widespread cars amongst Lebanese by May 2015, constituting 39.28% of newly registered cars. Second most demanded cars were Korean cars (with a share of 34.56%), losing their number one spot previously held by May 2014. European cars took the third place, grasping a share of 20.54% by May 2015, compared to 18.60% over the same period last year.
The breakdown of car brand sales ranked Kia at the top with 2,837 vehicles sold (or 18.80% of total newly registered cars), followed by Toyota with 2,522 units (or 16.71% of total newly registered cars) and then Hyundai with 2,378 cars or 15.75% of total newly registered cars.
In terms of sales per importer, NATCO SAL (imports Korean manufactured Kia) maintained its holding as top performer, grasping an 18.80% share, while BUMC (imports Japanese made Toyota and Lexus) and Century Motor Co (imports Korean produced Hyundai) captured 16.85% and 15.75% of the market, respectively.
Evolution of Total Number of Registered Cars by May
Source: AIA