The United Arab Emirates purchased 218,000 vehicles in 2022
- The United Arab Emirates is a federal state made up of seven emirates, the largest being Abu Dhabi. This federal state brings together nearly 10 million inhabitants. The automobile market represents on average between 200,000 and 400,000 new vehicles each year. In 2022, it reached 218,000 units, compared to 192,521 in 2021 and 152,235 in 2020, a year marked by the Covid-19 crisis. The year 2022 returns to the level of the years just before the Covid crisis, such as 2019 (215,977 sales) or 2018 (219,269 sales).
- However, this figure is still only a nearly half of the previous peak with more than 400,000 units reached in 2015. Like Saudi Arabia, the UAE automobile market depends on fluctuating oil prices, since Emirates relies heavily on the production and sale of oil. The more prices increase, the richer the country is and can import and buy new vehicles. The more prices fall, the more the automobile market collapses. This is the situation observed between 2015 and 2020.
- The composition of the market by brand has remained the same for several years, with a strong presence of Japanese brands, but the Chinese MG belonging to the SAIC group entered the top 10, moving from 13th place in 2021 to 8th position in 2022, doubling practically its sales from one year to the next.
- The best-selling model in 2022 is the Toyota Hilux pickup, with 13,640 units (6.3% of the market) ahead of the Nissan Patrol (11,212 units). Toyota places nine models in the Top 15 by model last year, which places the carmaker as the big market leader in the United Arab Emirates in 2022 (with 30.8% of the market).