Figures released by the Association of Automobile Importers in Lebanon show that dealers sold 17,208 new passenger cars in the first half of 2018, constituting a decrease of 5.4% from 18,198 cars sold in the same period of 2017. Individuals and institutional clients purchased 2,489 new cars in January, 2,256 new vehicles in February, 2,900 automobiles in March, 2,539 new cars in April, 2,862 vehicles in May and 4,162 new automobiles in June 2018.

Japanese cars accounted for 40% of total car sales in the first half of 2018, followed by Korean vehicles with a 30% share, European automobiles (19.7%), American cars (7.8%) and Chinese vehicles (2.7%). The sales of new Chinese cars jumped by 2.5 times in the covered period and demand for Japanese automobiles grew by 5.2% year-on-year. In contrast, demand for Korean vehicles regressed by 17.7%, the sales of European automobiles decreased by 11.3% and the number of American cars sold declined by 5.3% year-on-year in the covered period.

Kia is the leading brand in the Lebanese market with 2,813 passenger vehicles sold in the first half of 2018, followed by Hyundai with 2,322 new cars sold, Toyota (2,287), Nissan (1,864) and Renault (789). In parallel, car dealers sold 1,065 new commercial vehicles in the covered period, down by 26.6% from 1,450 commercial vehicles purchased in the first half of 2017. Overall, car dealers sold 18,273 new passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the first half of 2018, down by 7% from 19,648 cars sold in the same period of 2017.