Dubai: A rush of prospective buyers to car showrooms has not materialised, but there has been enough of a steady flow during the DSF 2012 to keep dealerships interested.
In turn, they are also playing it smart by linking their promotions to key models in their range, either as a well-timed boost or to clear inventory ahead of launches scheduled for later in the year.
It is unclear at this stage whether the interest generated during the month will compensate for the chill that struck new car sales during December. According to some industry sources, the December showing harked back to what had happened in the last month of 2008.
"Consumer confidence was pretty much shaken up by the heightened crisis in Europe in the last weeks of 2011, and it was as if buyers here wanted more time to make decisions on their purchases," said a senior official at a dealership representing a leading European brand. "They simply did not turn up at the showrooms.
"What we are hoping from DSF 2012 is to get them back in. After that it would be just a question of closing a deal."
Based on feedback, dealerships seem to have succeeded in their primary aim — to get the customer back to cruising through showrooms and model brochures.
"Visitor traffic levels are steadily increasing during this DSF as the New Year got under way and the children have returned to school," said Felix Welch, director of sales and marketing at Arabian Automobiles Co.
"Traditionally, we see more customers availing of our DSF offers as the festival comes to a close, which this year is on February 5.
"We enjoyed strong sales in 2011 and currently our retail sales this DSF are tracking a similar level over the same period as DSF 2011."
To build up to the crescendo during the final days of the campaign, Arabian Automobiles is refreshing its DSF-specific advertising.
The intention is to communicate the three offers on the three small and mid-sized Nissan models — the Sunny, Tiida and the Altima.
"The new Sunny sedan we showed at the 2011 Dubai International Motor Show will be hitting the streets of the UAE in March and we are excited that the famous Sunny nameplate will be coming back stronger than ever," Welch said. "Soon after, Nissan will also enter for the first time the smaller ‘B segment' with an all-new car."
In fact, it is not just a coincidence that for this year's promotion, dealerships have consciously aimed to stoke the maximum interest in their small and mid-sized models. These categories combined represented 35 per cent of the volumes of the overall UAE car market last year.
Lead model
Al-Futtaim Motors' DSF campaign is built on the Corolla as the lead model, alongside the Yaris. There are a further two models in the fray, the RAV4 and Aurion, though these come much higher in price.
"They are attractive models where we have put together a great package and offer," said Simon Frith, managing director at Al-Futtaim Motors. "There's value for money written all over it."
For other dealerships it is about trying to retrieve some of their lost momentum on the small and mid-sized models.
"Our sales decline has been most noticeable in these two categories since last November, while our premium models held their own and even improved on the corresponding period in 2010," said the official with the dealership representing the European make.
"So what we wanted to do during DSF was to try and re-engage potential buyers with the entry models."
So what will be the likely verdict on DSF 2012 from auto dealers?
"It's too early to tell whether it will increase sales for this month, but I can see our forecasts for how we are going to sell in January and that's based on what's coming back from our showrooms.
"Our forecasts are, I would say, going well because there are very strong DSF campaigns all over the place.
"That's healthy because it gives customers choice and gets the market going in the New Year."
According to Welch, "Generally speaking, customer sentiment appears cautiously optimistic and we forecast a modest growth for the first quarter of 2012."
For the time being at least, "cautious optimism" will be a recurring theme in any description of UAE consumer sentiment, and not just confined to the automotive retail space. But it's one sentiment in which local dealerships will take a lot of comfort.
