Bahrain Mirror: CEO of Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company Adel Hubail said that "new car sales grew by 4% in 2018," indicating that the decisive factor in high sales was the announcement of the VAT implementation at the beginning of 2019. He said that the increase was monitored in December 2018.

Hubail said in statement to journalists that "the slowdown in economic growth in 2018 affected many of the kingdom's economic activities, explaining that the car sales activity was not isolated from the general economic activity, but he attributed the growth to the huge demand for car purchases to last December 2018" with the official announcement of the tax implementation.

"Cars sales declined last year from January to November by 4%, compared to 2017, offset by December 2018 sales, during which the market witnessed a rebound in car sales backed by the rush of consumers to buy cars in order to avoid a 5% tax, which entered into force earlier this year," he added.

"The beginning of 2019 witnessed a slowdown in car sales," Hubail said, adding that last January recorded a 40% drop in sales.

He indicated that "March and April achieved an increase in sales with the promotions offered by showrooms and car agencies."

Official data show an increase in new cars by 4.8% and the registration of about 33,000 vehicles during 2018, as the data of the General Department of Traffic indicates an increase of licensed cars in Bahrain by 4.7% until the end of 2018 to reach 719 thousand vehicles, compared to 686 thousand vehicles by the end of 2017.

On the other hand, Central Bank of Bahrain data shows that personal loans for vehicle insurance registered a 10.3% decline to reach 103 million dinars, compared to 114.9 million dinars during 2017.

"The market has seen a shift in the desires of consumers who have been reluctant to buy large SUV cars with high fuel prices and turned towards medium-sized SUVs," he said.

Arabic Version