In 2016, we saw a decline in passenger car and commercial vehicle sales. However, in the next four years (between 2017 and 2020), Oman’s automobile market foresees a steady recovery. The estimations of Business Monitor International (BMI) show us the passenger car sales were dropped by 10%, whereas, 15% decline was estimated in commercial vehicles sales. The statistics also reveal that only around 1% increase in both vehicle sales is expected from 2017 to 2020.
According to the Fitch Group Company (BMI), the negative trend escalated in the second half of this year. It started off with a decrease of 3.7% (54,758 units) in private car sales, 27% (2,716 units) in rental car sales and 16.4% (15,693 units) in commercial vehicle sales. The total drop of 11.2% (91,778 units) was observed in Oman’s overall auto sales this year.
The recent GCC Automobile Industry report of Alpen Capital states that Oman’s auto industry began to suffer downfall in 2014. It also anticipates that Oman’s automobile market would recover between 2017 and 2020 with an annual growth rate of 3.6% per year. The decrease in oil prices impacted the Oman’s automobile market negatively. The total share of Oman’s passenger cars in GCC is also anticipated to fall from 7.2% in 2015 to 6.8% in 2020.