DUBAI, 14 January 2007 — General Motors (GM) has continued its record sales growth in the United Arab Emirates to register annual sales of 15,855, up 61 percent over 2005. This growth has been fuelled by a succession of new car and SUV launches throughout 2006.
A best ever month of sales in the Middle East in December – GM’s 38th consecutive month of record sales – took total annual sales to 140,509, an increase of 24 percent over 2005. This means that GM’s sales in the region have almost tripled in the last three years.
“Our continued success is driven by the growing popularity of all our brands, but especially by Chevrolet,” Terry Johnsson, managing director of GM Middle East, said. “We launched 17 new models or new generations of existing models in 2006 and these have been very well received by customers throughout the Middle East.” Chevrolet is the main driver of the GM growth in the UAE. In 2006 sales of Chevrolet in the UAE were up by 65 percent to 12,423. At the same time, the premium brands, Cadillac and HUMMER, saw sales grow by 229 percent to 1,465, while GMC recorded a 9 percent increase to 1,895.
GM’s success in UAE is mirrored throughout the Middle East, with the automaker enjoying tremendous growth across almost all regional markets. Sales in Kuwait, another key market for GM, grew by 5 percent to 18,289, while sales in Saudi Arabia were up 17 percent to 83,710.
GM also enjoyed growth in the remaining Gulf markets of Qatar (up 46 percent to 5,254), Oman (up 43 percent to 2,320) and Bahrain (up 19 percent to 2,303). In the Levant markets (Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) sales grew by 11 percent to 5,482. Iraq sales were up 189 percent to 7,065.
The Chevrolet Caprice continues to be the top selling model in the region, increasing in volume by 10 percent to 18,163. The Caprice was closely followed by the Chevrolet Optra and the Chevrolet Aveo with sales increases of 37 percent to 14,880 and 26 percent to 14,669 respectively over sales in 2005. A new generation of the Chevrolet Caprice, which enjoys an unrivalled history in the region, has just arrived in the Middle East and this year’s growth highlights its continued popularity. With increased vehicle sales comes growth in other areas of the business, particularly after sales. There are currently 31 new GM dealer facilities underway in the region at an investment of $113 million. $600 million is to be spent on dealer facilities between 2006 and 2008.