Sales of new cars up

Korean brands account for 45 percent of the market

A total of 7,390 new cars were sold in Lebanon in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 14 percent from the same period last year.

According to figures released by the Automobile Importers Association (AIA), sales of Korean cars totaled 3,344 vehicles in the first three months of 2012, an increase of 21 percent from the same period last year. Sales of American cars rose by 36 percent to 522 cars, and sales of Japanese cars were up by 7.2 percent to reach 1,915 cars sold in the first three months of the year. Sales of European cars went up by four percent over the past year with around 1,560 cars sold in the first quarter of this year.

Korean cars continued to lead in new car sales with a market share of 45 percent at end-March 2012. Japanese cars accounted for around 26 percent of new car sales, followed by European cars at 21 percent, and American cars at seven percent.