Land Rover Middle East says that they have achieved the best half year sales performance so far in the region. At the end of June, the company has sold 5,384 vehicles across the Middle East and North Africa region - marking a 25% increase as compared to the same period last year. Leading the sales was the Range Rover Sport and the flagship Range Rover.

Mercedes-Benz Middle East & Levant has reported an increase of 35 percent in their sales in the region. The premium car maker reports that it delivered 10,090 vehicles in the first half of 2008 up 35 % from the 8,327 units delivered in the same period the previous year. The flagship S-Class continues to be the max sales grosser with 497 units delivered compared to 344 in 2007. C-Class deliveries were up from 225 in 2007 to 426 while the mid-range E-Class continued to perform well with 410 units delivered compared to 379 the previous year.

Yet another manufacturer to claim record sales figures in the Middle East was none other the 'People's car maker' Volkswagen. The company has reported an increase of 42 percent (6000 units) in sale of cars compared to the same period last year. The most popular car in their product portfolio was the Tiguan, although no percentage or sales figures of the premium small crossover were mentioned in the press release. The mid-size Touareg SUV, as well as the mid-size Passat sedan attained 29 percent and 23 percent sales respectively. Volkswagen Middle East is expecting to keep the sales trend up with new hotly anticipated launches such as the Passat CC, the new-gen Scirocco and the all-new Golf.

With these eye-popping percentage growth figures riding on the skyrocketing growth fuelled by the petro dollars in most regional economies, the automotive industry in the Middle East is looking at another double digit growth year.

However, the refusal of market leaders like Toyota to release any figures, and smartly presented growth figures in percentage terms instead of actual numbers by a majority of car makers leaves much ambiguity on the real market scenario. Barring a few car brands, most are shy of releasing specific details, and all requests are politely brushed aside in the guise of ‘Policy’. Isn’t it time the industry started to behave in a more mature manner in this region, just as it does worldwide?

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