Motorists looking to buy a sparkling new car or trade in a banged-up lemon are being advised to hold off signing for a vehicle until a glut of summer offers is launched.
During Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), Ramadan and Eid, car dealerships across the country will begin offering special deals as they try to offload stock and entice customers.
“We are now in discount season because dealers will begin a clear-out,” said Bill Carter, an analyst at Autodata Middle East, an independent car-research company. The DSS shopping festival “starts next week. Then, that finishes, and we have Ramadan offers. We now have two months, minimum, of offers”.
But some dealerships across the country have already started to offer deals to customers.
Kia, whose vehicles are sold by Juma Al Majid in the Emirates, said it had had a strong start to the year in terms of sales and was currently offering a five-month-grace period for payments on any of its cars. It will pay the first two months and Dubai Islamic Bank will delay collection of its first payment until after three months.
“We are still planning our Ramadan offers. DSS deals are just for one month,” said Ramesh Amei, the product manager at Al Majid Motors.
“The market has begun to expect. About three weeks before Ramadan, the sales go down because people are waiting for offers.” Mr Amei said the brand had grown sales 26 per cent in the first five months of the year, compared with the same period last year.
“We have enjoyed a good first five months. In the month of May, we were up 32 per cent.”
Mr Amei added that Japanese cars had become more expensive than their South Korean counterparts because the value of the yen had fallen against the dirham in recent months.
Hyundai is offering its popular Sonata model starting from Dh59,900 (US$16,062), about Dh10,000 off its regular price as part of a special offer for Uefa Euro 2012, which the car maker is helping to sponsor.
The 2013 model Sonata is expected to be delivered soon, so dealers are offloading last year’s models in anticipation.
Arabian Automobiles, the exclusive distributor for Nissan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, is set to begin marketing an offer called the “Bumper Summer Sale”, where all its Nissan cars will be offered at discounted prices.
“The people … will be searching for bargains,” said Mr Carter. “It [is] a good time to change vehicle.”
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