Samir Homsi, president of the Association, said the decrease in sales volume of new cars was marginal.

The statistical survey show that Nissan still dominates the market, as it sold 6294 car units in 2009, which constitute nearly 22 percent of the total number of cars sold.

It was followed by Toyota which sold 4,463 cars which represent 14 percent of total cars sold, and Kia which sold 3,922 cars or 12 percent of the total figure.

The market share of Japanese cars is still the highest with a 47 percent share, followed by European cars at 25 percent and Korean cars at 20 percent, the figures show. 

Total number of used cars sold reached 62,000 cars, up 48 percent from 2008.

Homsi said that profits of car agents are on a steady decline due to the fierce competition between the 36 agents in Lebanon to maintain their share in the market.

He said he expects car sales to drop further in 2010 to below the 30,000 threshold.