According to Wikipedia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. They also buy cars, which is where my interest comes in.
The UAE sales are from 2002 to 2008. In 2002 there were 120,000 vehicles sold in the UAE, and by 2008, that had gone up to 360,000, an increase of 200%. Toyota is the largest brand in the Emirates. It had 30,000 sales (24.5% market share) in 2002 and by ‘08 sold 91,000 (25.3%). Nissan is second with sales going from 34,300 (28.4%) to 54,300 (15.2%). Others were:
3 Mitsubishi 8,400 (7.0%) and 43,600 (12.2%)
4 Honda 10,500 (8.7%) to 23,600 (6.6%)
5 GM 4,500 (3.6%) to 23,400 (6.5%)
6 Hyundai 2,500 (2.1%) to 15,100 (4.2%)
7 Chery new (0%) now 13,900 (3.9%)
8 Kia 1,800 (1.5%) to 10,300 (2.9%)
9 Mazda 3,600 (3%) to 9,000 (2.5%)
10 Mercedes 2,800 (2.3) to 6,800 (1.9%)
The market is strongly Japanese, Toyota top and looking comfortable. Oil rich economies in the Middle East area have vehicle sales growing quickly. Maybe it's time they were a little more transparent reporting the figures as they are increasingly important players in the world's car industry.
The bottom line: I would love to visit the UAE, especially Abu Dhabi.
PS. Sales figures have been modified.