Abu Dhabi: Sales of luxury cars in the UAE continue to boom with the country becoming amongst the top global markets for, Giorgio Starace, Italian ambassador to UAE, told Gulf News on Wednesday.
“The UAE is the eighth country worldwide for luxury cars such as Ferrari whose dealer, Al Tayer Motors, with 25 years of representing the brand in the UAE, has become the first importer of this brand the world as per capita based on number of population,” Starace remarked.
He said that 2013 is promising as trends continue to grow, with expectations to exceed all previous records. “The year 2012 had been a hugely successful year for luxury car manufacturers in the Middle East in general and in the UAE in particular,” said Starace.
Ashok Khanna, CEO, Al Tayer Motors, last month announced that sale of luxury cars in the UAE will boom further. This was represented by Al Tayer Motors, one of the UAE’s automobile dealerships , winning of auto dealers award and it was named as Ferrari’s Middle East and Africa region importer of the 2012.
Al Tayer Motors’ award was an appreciation for its dealership’s performance in terms of sales, after-sales service, marketing and enhancing the Ferrari brand in the UAE market.
The recent 13th annual global wealth management report issued by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), measuring global wealth had showed that the UAE ranks 15th in the world in terms of ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) households, with household having more than Dh367.8 million ($100 million) in private wealth with more than 56,000 families in the country having $400 million.
Analysts said that luxury renaissance in the UAE is far ahead the west which is impounded by financial downturn.
In the past two years, Ferrari achieved a 30 per cent increase in sales in the Middle East region with Abu Dhabi becoming one of its key markets. “The surge in the luxury auto in the UAE market reflects that that there is wealthy class, particularly those youngsters, who prefer such autos or the so-called super-cars who demonstrated their will to own luxury car models,” said car experts.
UAE, the biggest market in the region for BMW
Abu Dhabi Motors has achieved a 22 per cent increase in sales during the first three months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, the company said. “We had record-breaking results in 2012, in which we delivered 5,358 vehicles – the highest number of vehicles sold in one year in the Middle East, and the first time any BMW Group Middle East importer has delivered more than 5,000 cars in 12 months,” said Joerg Breuer, Managing Director, BMW Group Middle East.
Breuer added that the company has achieved an extremely successful awards season by winning the highest number of awards won at the bi-annual BMW Group Excellence in Sales Award Ceremony, recently held in Munich at the BMW Museum.in addition to three additional accolades. “This further highlights Abu Dhabi’s position as a pioneering hub for the region’s automotive industry and reinforces the importance of the Middle East for the Group,” said Breuer.
Company figures showed that last year the UAE remained the biggest market, accounting for 47 per cent of BMW and MINI regional sales and almost 10,000 vehicles sold with Abu Dhabi as the highest volume selling market, with a 21 per cent growth, while Dubai witnessed an increase of 5 per cent.
The company said that Saudi Arabia was the third highest volume selling market, with 17 per cent growth. Other top performing markets included Kuwait, with a growth of 37 per cent, the highest amongst all BMW Group Middle East importers, and Oman increased sales by 33 per cent and Lebanon by 25 per cent.
Audi sales higher in UAE
The highest number of sales for Audi came from the UAE with 1,738 vehicles being sold to customers.
Analysts said the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is slated to see unprecedented growth in luxury car segment in the coming five years. “Sales of luxury cars in the Middle East and North Africa would rise by 20 per cent in 2013 due to the strong purchase power in the region compared to the rest parts of the world which suffer financial hardships. It is also expected that the demand on luxury cars would double in the coming five years. Therefore, this region is an attractive market,” analysts said.
