Dubai: One in every five vehicles seen on the UAE's roads is in the sports utilities vehicle (SUVs) class, making the country one of the world's most densely-covered markets for the segment.
According to data compiled by Auto Strategies International, there are just over 432,500 SUVs aged between 0-12 years old in the UAE out of more than 1.9 million passenger cars, pickups, vans, trucks and buses.
In neighbouring Saudi Arabia there are more than 475,500 SUVs on the road - around 15 per cent of the total number of vehicles aged 0-12 years.
For automakers, the trend makes the Middle East, and the GCC especially, one of their best markets in the SUV category.
Phil Horton, managing director of BMW Group Middle East, said the region could be in the top five globally for the X6, a concept SUV which could hit the market in mid-2008.
"This will be a key market. I think if the company could design a car specifically for the Middle East, it would be the X6."
BMW's best-selling model this year for the Middle East is the X5, accounting for around 15 per cent of overall sales, followed by the 5 Series and 7 Series.
An official at Porsche Middle East and Africa said the region is in the top three in the world for volume sales of the company's second generation Cayenne performance SUV. The off-roader represents some 70 per cent of all Porsches sold in the region. Overall Porsche recorded 5,330 deliveries in the 2006-07 period compared with 4,419 units the year before.
Officials at General Motors said they have high hopes for Middle East sales of the Tahoe Hybrid, a two-mode full hybrid version of Chevrolet's full-size SUV.
Meanwhile, Middle East sales of Land Rover were up 36 per cent in September compared to a year earlier. The region is the third biggest Range Rover market after the US and the UK.
