According to the monthly statistics published by the Automobile Importers Association (AIA), new car sales in Lebanon stood at 386 vehicles during the month of July 2021, compared to 602 vehicles in June noting that they stood at 624 in July of last year. On a cumulative basis, new car sales fell by 47.58% y-o-y to 2,423 vehicles during the first seven months of 2021, down from 4,622 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 45.32% y-o-y to 788, and was accompanied by some 23.37% contraction in the sales of Korean cars to 577 vehicles and some 55.89% decrease in the sales of European cars to 682 only to name a few. Japanese cars controlled the lion’s share of new car sales in Lebanon, amassing alone 32.52% of total unit sales up to July 2021, followed by European (28.15%), Korean (23.81%), American (10.15%), and Chinese (5.37%) cars.

The Korean “Kia” brand recorded total unit sales of 377 cars YTD July 2021, enjoying the highest market share of 15.56%, followed by the Japanese “Suzuki” (316 cars <13.04%>) and Japanese “Toyota” (234 cars <9.66%>) brands, only to name a few.