New car sales in Lebanon took a severe hit in 2019 as the number of registered vehicles plunged by 33.4 percent compared to the same period of 2018, according to data compiled by the Association of Car Importers. The association said that registered passenger cars stood at 21,991 in 2019, falling by 33.4 percent from a total of 33,012 in 2018.It attributed this decline in new car sales to the prevailing macro situation in Lebanon, the suspension of car loans, impossibility of opening documentary credits to import cars and spare parts, increase of interest rates, difficulty of converting cash collected in Lebanese pounds into U.S. dollars in the bank to pay the suppliers and the risk of seeing thousands of employees losing their job.In a look at the regions, Japanese cars took over the highest share of newly registered cars in 2019 with a total of 8,630, down by 35.7 percent from 2018. Korean cars took over the second place with a total of 5,495 cars, down from 9,357 cars in 2018.European cars took over the third place with a total of 5,023 cars in 2019, down by a yearly 21.8 percent.
Korea’s Kia ranked first in terms of new car registration during 2019, with a total of 3,205 cars against a total of 5,012 cars during the previous year.It was followed by Japan’s Toyota with a total of 2,479 newly registered cars in 2019, against 4,155 cars in 2018.Japan’s Nissan came in the third position with a total of 2,349 newly registered cars in 2019, compared to 3,995 cars registered in 2018. These were followed by Korea’s Hyundai with a total of 2,272 newly registered cars in 2019, compared to a total of 4,319 cars registered in the year earlier.
Source: The Daily Star.
(ITALPRESS/MNA)
