Within the markets of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the sales of Chinese vehicles are moving forward with its biggest share regardless of the high position that the Japanese and the German manufacturers occupy in the region.
At the constant biennial Dubai International Motor Show, Hisam Kham, the General Manager of Naser M. Alsayer Auto Group, the exclusive and the authorized dealer and a distributer of Chinese car brand BYD (Build Your Dreams), delivered his speech saying that BYD put out 350 cars on sale in the UAE in 2012, and they will definitely increase sales amid strong demand from mostly middle-class customers.
However, comparing with Japanese and German car giants, BYD’s outcome is witnessed as tiny and unimportant. For instance, German Audi sold out 3.235 units in the UAE alone, in the first nine months of the year.
Even though, Khan said he felt happy and optimistic that Chinese cars as a brand are just at the beginning of a long journey on the Gulf state’s streets and desert roads.
“We will soon launch an intensive marketing campaign with advertising in newspapers, magazines and online. We will not target a specific group of people, but the affluent middle class in general,” Khan said.
In relation to occupied floor space in Dubai’s world trade exhibition center, this year’s Dubai International Motor Show is 35 percent bigger than the last one in 2011 and the presence of automobiles “Made in China” is also expanding.
According to G. Machiner, Sales Manager of Commercial Vehicles at Dubai-based Al Naboodah, the exclusive distribution firm of Great Wall cars in the UAE, the show displayed many Chinese vehicles including Foton, Chery, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Brilliance and Great Wall. Great Wall is the market leader in its home market, which produces around 90 percent of all cars made in china.
It is worth mentioning that since its presence in the UAE in 2011, Great Wall has so far sold 4, 800 units.
“For 2013, we expect to sell 1,000 units for the first time, up from 702 units last year,” said Machiner, adding that Great Wall so far only sold commercial vehicles like pickup trucks.
Car sales in the UAE rose by 18.7 percent in the first six months of the year, for a year-end forecast of 380,000 vehicles, which would translate into a 23 percent year-on-year increase, according to the motor show organizer.
The UAE is the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia.
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