Qatar’s auto sector sees a robust 39% year-on-year jump in new registrations in May 2022

Qatar's automobile sector saw a double-digit growth in fresh registrations on an annualised basis this May, paced by robust sales of new private vehicles and motorcycles, according to the official data.The new vehicle registrations stood at 6,535; representing a 39.2% increase year-on-year, but saw a 10.7% decline on a monthly basis, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA).The registration of new private vehicles stood at 4,574, which posted a 45.1% surge year-on-year but fell 2.9% month-on-month in May 2022. Such vehicles constituted about 70% of the total new vehicles registered in the country in the review period.The registration of new private transport vehicles stood at 960; which nevertheless shrank 10.9% and 14.7% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in May 2022. Such vehicles constituted about 15% of the total new vehicles in the review period.According to the Qatar Central Bank data, auto loans to Qataris and non-Qatari were seen declining 22.88% and 4.76% year-on-year respectively to QR0.91bn and QR0.2bn in May 2022.Personal loans to Qataris reported an 82.8% surge year-on-year to QR88.13bn and those for non-Qataris by 16.25% to QR9.23bn in the review period.The overall consumption credit to nationals grew 2.92% on an annualised basis to QR148.39bn and that to non-Qataris by 15.98% to QR12.19bn in May 2022.The registration of new private motorcycles almost tripled on a yearly basis to 685 units, even as it plummeted 34.6% month-on-month in May 2022. These constituted more than 10% of the total new vehicles in May 2022.The registration of new heavy equipment stood at 182, which constituted about 3% of the total registration in the review period. Their registrations had seen 8.1% shrinkage on an annualised basis but shot up 15.9% on monthly basis.The new registration of other non-specified vehicles stood at 92 units, which shot up about eight-fold year-on-year whereas it plummeted 61.9% on a monthly basis.The registration of trailers stood at 42 units, which saw a 110.5% expansion on annualised basis and 7.7% month-on-month in the review period.The renewal of registration was reported in 58,506 units, which saw a 6.3% jump year-on-year but shrank 2% on a monthly basis this May.The transfer of ownership was reported in 28,161 vehicles in May 2022, which zoomed 23.8% on a yearly basis but saw a 7.4% contraction month-on-month.The re-registration of vehicles stood at 79, which reported 29.5% jump on an annualised basis but fell 13.2% this May.The modified vehicles’ registration stood at 7,773, which saw a 63.8% and 168.9% expansion on yearly and monthly basis respectively in May 2022.The cancelled vehicles stood at 1,925 units, which shot up 46.4% year-on-year but dipped 15.4% month-on-month in the review period.The number of lost/damaged vehicles stood at 7,550 units, which declined 24% year-on-year but was up 5% on monthly basis in May 2022.The number of vehicles meant for exports stood at 1,571 units, which shrank 13.7% on an annualised basis whereas it grew 1.9% month-on-month this May.The clearing of vehicle-related processes stood at 112,072 units, which expanded 11.6% and 0.6% on a yearly and monthly basis respectively in the review period.