More UAE car buyers are checking out cheaper '0-mileage' imports

Dubai: Planning to buy a car but finding your choice of model to be too costly? Then, check out ‘zero mileage’ imports from Europe or China to find one that meets your budget.

That seems to be exactly what a lot more UAE car buyers seem to be doing, according to auto industry sources. “These imports may be by definition ‘secondhand’ vehicles, but they usually have done zero mileage,” said Sebastian Fuchs, Managing Director at AutoData Middle East.

“Even after factoring in the import duty these vehicles attract, there is still a 10%-15% price difference between what a vehicle shipped in from Europe would cost and what the same would cost here if bought brand new.”

And when it comes to imports of Chinese built models, that price gap widens to even 20%.

A sizable number of UAE consumers – who have already bought such an imported vehicle or plan to do so soon – say pricing is an obvious attraction in making their decision. “We understand that many of these imports do not have the GCC specs, but with a few tweaks I should have no problem,” said Martin S., who has been scouting for a particular Volkswagen model for some time. “There is a straight saving when I choose a zero mileage import.”

UAE secondhand dealers are ramping up their intake of such vehicles to meet the demand. “There is a flood of such imports coming into the UAE, mostly from Europe but these days from China too,” said Fuchs.

It’s all in the pricing

New car dealerships in the UAE have been ultra-focused on how they are pricing their models. The competition from the wave of new Chinese brands plus the increasing presence of cheaper European and Chinese imports are making them walk a thin line on pricing.

“Even then, there are significant price gaps, whether that’s on an entry level compact sedan sold through an official dealer or an import,” said Fuchs. “Some of the leading Japanese makes had raised their 2025 model year prices, while Chinese ones have either maintained 2024 levels or even lowered them slightly.”

A lot of imports are EVs

New car dealers have been consistently issued messaging telling vehicle buyers to be careful about imports, because they are not built to GCC specs. It is a valid point, but for many buyers their decisions are dictated by the pricing and any warranty cover secondhand dealers can offer.

Market sources that EVs make up a good share of the zero mileage imports these days. “Rather than fuel vehicles, it will be on EVs that the competition will be stiffest,” said an importer specializing in shipping SUVs into the country. “We plan to increase our options on EVs too, because there is ready interest in the market.”

This year will mark another round of growth for EV sales in the UAE, which is why more secondhand dealers will be quick to change their strategies to pull in more imports of these.

"At any point nowadays, there would be unsold stock of EVs with a seller based in Europe," said a dealer. "We can buy them for the right price and given the trends in the UAE, we are reasonably confident of finding buyers within the shortest possible time."

Of course, these are all 'zero mileage' models...