Dubai: General Motors yesterday reported vehicle sales of 38,450 in the Middle East in the fourth quarter of 2010, up 26.2 per cent over the same quarter in 2009. In December, sales rose by 42 per cent over December 2009, the company said.
However, the UAE was one of the few markets in the Middle East where General Motors witnessed a drop in sales last year, Sean McAllister, Corporate Communications Manager for General Motors Middle East, told Gulf News.
"We witnessed sales increases in Saudi, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain and the Levant," he said. "Sales in the UAE fell from 13,915 units in 2009 to 11,156 in 2010. But the majority of this fall can be attributed to the discontinuation of the Hummer brand, which was very popular in the UAE. In fact, our Middle East sales figures make impressive reading when you consider that in the Middle East, GM has gone from four to three brands."
In the UAE, General Motors has three dealers, Bin Hamoodah in Abu Dhabi, Al Ghandi Auto in Dubai and Liberty Automobiles. Top selling models in the UAE, according to McAllister, were the Chevrolet Tahoe, followed by the GMC Yukon, the Chevrolet Caprice, GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Cruze.
In the Middle East, Chevrolet recorded year-on-year sales growth of 31.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010; Cadillac a 46.7 per cent surge in sales, while GMC grew by 23.3 per cent. Chevrolet's figures are attributed to strong sales of recent models, the Cruze, Malibu, Traverse and Camaro. Cadillac's growth was boosted by sales of the SRX, while sales of GMC remained flat over the year although the Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL recorded strong sales growth, the company said.
Steady growth
GM Middle East's two largest markets, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both delivered steady growth during 2010. In Saudi Arabia, year-on-year vehicle sales were up 28.4 per cent in the fourth quarter and up 7 per cent for the calendar year. Meanwhile in Iraq, year-on-year sales of GM vehicles soared 112 per cent in the fourth quarter resulting in a 52 per cent uplift on the calendar year.
"This outstanding performance in the final quarter of 2010 will create a strong momentum going into 2011 that will enable us to continue to grow our business in the Middle East," said John Stadwick, President and Managing Director of GM Middle East.
