Car dealers celebrated bumper sales as extended promotions through August, normally a quiet month, pulled in droves of buyers.
Dealers including Al Nabooda's Volkswagen, Al Habtoor's Mitsubishi and Juma Al Majid's Hyundai all extended their Ramadan offers until at least yesterday.
"Business was so good we wanted to offer it until the end of August," said Joe Rogan, the director of sales at Al Habtoor Motors.
The company offered up to 30 per cent off some models, such as the 1.6 Mitsubishi Lancer EX, which costs Dh44,800, compared with Dh64,000 last Ramadan.
"The marketing has drawn the crowds and our numbers have grown amazingly over this last couple of months, from selling an average of up to 100 vehicles a month we're selling nearly 400 to 500 a month," Mr Rogan said.
Juma Al Majid's Hyundai dealership also extended deals, which included a choice between a discount of up to Dh20,000, no interest for three years and 90 days deferred payment, a five-year service contract or up to two years free registration and free insurance or a better trade-in value. Sales rose more than 10 per cent in sales in July.
Tamer Alhakeem, general manager of marketing at Juma Al Majid for Hyundai UAE, said that the company had struggled to cope with demand.
"The sales go down after Eid and after Ramadan in general, so we decided to extend the promotion due to the tremendous reservation in this programme," Mr Alhakeem added.
Other dealers, including Al Nabooda's Volkswagen division, which recorded a 275 per cent increase in Passat sales and a 187 per cent rise in Jetta sales during the period, extended their offers to give customers more time to think about making a purchase.
The dealer's Ramadan package, which offers one year's free insurance, five years' extended warranty, five years or 75,000km free servicing and free registration, has been extended until the end of September.
"We don't want to disappoint customers who were window shopping during Ramadan and need some time to take a decision, go away for Eid, come back and then the promotion is over," said Thierry Seys, the general manager for Volkswagen Dubai at Al Nabooda Automobiles.
