According to the monthly statistics published by the Automobile Importers Association (AIA), new car sales in Lebanon stood at 602 vehicles during the month of June 2021, compared to 487 vehicles in May noting that they stood at 815 in June of last year. On a cumulative basis, new car sales fell by 49.07% y-o-y to 2,036 vehicles during the first half of 2021, down from 3,998 vehicles during that same period last year. The sharp annual drop in the sales of new cars is attributed to foreign currency liquidity squeeze in the banking sector which constrained buyers from withdrawing cash in foreign currencies to meet the new conditions set forth by vehicle dealers who require buyers to settle a significant part of the price in fresh Dollars not to mention the rapid coronavirus outbreak and related lockdown. More specifically, the sales of Japanese cars fell by 51.91% y-o-y to 618, and was accompanied by some 29.08% contraction in the sales of Korean cars to 478 vehicles and some 53.50% decrease in the sales of European cars to 598 only to name a few. Japanese cars controlled the lion’s share of new car sales in Lebanon, amassing alone 30.35% of total unit sales up to June 2021, followed by European (29.37%), Korean (23.48%), American (11.15%), and Chinese (5.65%) cars.

The Korean “Kia” brand recorded total unit sales of 328 cars YTD June 2021, enjoying the highest market share of 16.11%, followed by the Japanese “Suzuki” (239 cars <11.74%>) and Japanese “Toyota” (182 cars <8.94%>) brands, only to name a few.