UAE | Traffic and Transport
Used car dealers see boost to business in tough times
The owners of used car dealerships on Monday praised the decision to postpone the implementation of the ban on 20-year-old cars.
- By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:41 December 2, 2008
- Image Credit: Vazhisojan/Gulf News
- Cars belonging to dealers are seen parked in Abu Shagara. Some dealers have already stopped selling 20-year-old cars.
Sharjah: The owners of used car dealerships on Monday praised the decision to postpone the implementation of the ban on 20-year-old cars.
"The way the cost of living keeps rising, people do not have the means anymore to buy new cars," said Ebrahim Ebrahimi of Sa'ad Motors Showroom.
"I heard about the news the day before, and immediately thought that this will be very good for business around here. I get around 50 customers a month asking for old cars, and now I will possibly get more," he said.
The decision was issued by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday.
The ban had been due to take effect from on Monday.
Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, said that the ban was postponed in order to give low-income people time to adjust. Nevertheless, several used car dealers said they would no longer sell cars that were more than 20 years old.
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"For the past month, customers from the Gulf and Russia have been buying the old cars because they thought they would soon be taken off the market. Now that I have got rid of all of them, I do not want the hassle of dealing with old cars again," said George Awad of Al Bashiq Used Cars, which owns more than 650 cars.
A 20-year-old car costs between Dh2,000 and Dh3,000 and, according to dealership owners, the majority of customers interested in such vehicles are either from other Gulf countries or Eastern Europe.
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