According to the monthly statistics published by the Automobile Importers Association (AIA), new car sales in Lebanon stood at 255 vehicles during the month of August 2021, compared to 386 vehicles in July noting that they stood at 186 in August of last year. On a cumulative basis, new car sales fell by 44.30% y-o-y to 2,678 vehicles during the first eight months of 2021, down from 4,808 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 41.65% y-o-y to 870, and was accompanied by some 19.90% contraction in the sales of Korean cars to 620 vehicles and some 52.84% decrease in the sales of European cars to 765 only to name a few. Japanese cars controlled the lion’s share of new car sales in Lebanon, amassing alone 32.49% of total unit sales up to August 2021, followed by European (28.57%), Korean (23.15%), American (10.42%), and Chinese (5.38%) cars.

The Korean “Kia” brand recorded total unit sales of 408 cars YTD August 2021, enjoying the highest market share of 15.24%, followed by the Japanese “Suzuki” (333 cars <12.43%>) and Japanese “Toyota” (273 cars <10.19%>) brands, only to name a few.