John Stadwick
President & Managing Director, General Motors Middle East
Dubai really is a gateway not just to the Middle East, but to North Africa as well. We do business in both North Africa and across the Middle East, making Dubai a strategic base, which is strengthened by the presence of Jebel Ali. We bring in cars and spare parts from all across the globe, meaning that we need an excellent logistics center, and our center in Jebel Ali certainly plays that role. Every day, we travel to all the four corners of the globe. There is no better hub to fly in and out of than Dubai. The benefit of being General Motors is the number of brands that we have globally. We selected three brands to bring to the Middle East market. We have Cadillac at the top end, Chevrolet for the mass market, and then the GMC Truck. We probably have the greatest range of vehicles and portfolio of any manufacturer here in the Middle East.
Karl Hamer
Managing Director, Al Habtoor Motors
The UAE has experienced strong growth in 2013 and this will be our best year since 2008. The UAE expects to see sales of around 380,000 units in 2013. Mitsubishi, in terms of percentage growth, will be at around 25% for the full year at circa 38,000 sales. The overall market is seeing circa 20% volume growth, although the prestige market is growing even faster. In 2013, we expect to see 45% growth in Bentley sales. Many prestigious brands are experiencing strong growth in this part of the world, meaning manufacturers are looking more and more at how they can do business here. Bentley Emirates has overtaken China now, which is impressive considering the UAE’s population of around 9 million people compared to China’s of around 1.36 billion people. The UAE enjoys a vibrant business environment that is maturing day by day, and I believe that its progressive companies, which possess strong skill sets, are well placed to grow further not just locally but regionally and globally.
Thomas Milz
Managing Director, Thomas Milz
There are a number of factors that made 2012 such a successful year for Volkswagen. For example, we launched a number of products tailor-made to the needs and wants of our Middle Eastern customers, including the Passat and Polo sedans. When you look at the market in the Middle East or Dubai, it is very similar to the US market, with the biggest segments being SUVs and sedans. Volkswagen provides German engineering at a price that fits the Middle East. Another factor is our investment in new and existing facilities and our continuing focus on service excellence. We opened new facilities in 2012, and we are currently planning the opening of new state-of-the-art service centers and showrooms in key markets later in 2013. We have two product sectors that we believe have the strongest growth potential: sedans and SUVs. In terms of sedans, we have the Polo sedan, the Jetta, and the Passat. In the SUV category, we have the Tiguan, which is A-class, a smaller SUV, and the Touareg, which is our most successful model in the Middle East. Then, of course, we have the iconic Golf GTI.
Atsuo Kosaka
Managing Director, Nissan Middle East
We experienced 30% growth in comparison to 2011. This was mainly due to the introduction of new models into the region. We have introduced five new models over the past 12 months: Nissan’s new Sunny, Micra, Altima, NV 350 Urvan, and, in 2013, we have introduced the Sentra. Another factor was of course the Tsunami and earthquake in Japan in 2011, which affected production capacity not only for Nissan, but also for all automakers and industries. As a result, we have seen a 30% bounce back in sales compared to the year before. Nissan Patrol sales increased by 38% in the UAE, and were much higher than our overall growth average. After the launch of the current Patrol in 2010, sales are constantly increasing in the second, third, and fourth years. I think it has a lot to do with just how much people here like this car; word of mouth has meant that our sales have been strong year after year. It is the kind of car that if you try it, you love it. We offered plenty of opportunities for people to test drive it, which is crucial for a car like this.
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