UAE tops new car sales growth in Middle East

The UAE topped the world in new car sales growth rates during the first eight months of 2015

15 November 2015

The UAE hosts major automotive dealerships in the world and is also a key market for car sales in addition to being a re-export hub for the Middle East region.

This was stated by Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade and Industry at an event, which was organised by Custom Events to announce the results of the second edition of Car of the Year 2015 in the Middle East, or MECOTY2015.

"The auto market in the UAE is one of the best in terms of regional sales growth annually, and is the best in the marketing sector in terms of automotive services, as well as the quality of after-sale services in the sector," Al Saleh said.

The UAE topped the world in new car sales growth rates during the first eight months of 2015, with an increase of 5.3 per cent in sales of new cars, compared to the corresponding period of 2014, according to industry estimates.

Twenty-two cars were chosen for the prizes at the event held by Custom Events in Dubai in the presence of a number of executives in major international auto companies.

Saeed Al Marzouqi, chief executive officer of Custom Events, said: "We have provided support to all companies in launching their vote generation campaigns. The results were tremendous; we registered over 65,000 votes compared to 11,000 votes in 2014 from all over the world, showing an increase of 500 per cent." The car of the year award for jury choice went to Ford Mustang, and the car of the year for public choice was won by Kia Sorento.

In the first group, of the sedan category, the Hyundai Sonata was the best mid-size car. The Jaguar XE won the category of best executives compact car. For the category of best executives coupe, the BMW Coupe Series 4 won the award, while the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class ER 45 AMG won the prize for the category of best executive car in terms of performance. For the category of best executives medium-sized car", the Infinity Q-7 was chosen. The Bentley Mulsanne speed won the award for best large salon luxury car".

Within the second group, the Nissan Jockey snatched the award for the best SUV category best compact car. For the category of best sports car, the Honda CVR won. The Lexus The X-200 was chosen for the category of best luxury sports car. For the category of best large sports car, the Chevrolet Tahoe won the award, whereas the Range Rover won the category of best multi-purpose sports car in terms of performance. GM's Serra truck was chosen for the category of best truck.

In the last group, the best hatchback cars for performance, the Ford Focus ST, won the prize. Tje Ford Mustang won the category of best sports coupe, while the Audi TT won for the category of best sports coupe luxury car.