Iraq 2012: Toyota Hilux and Kia Cerato dominate

Toyota Hilux

* See the full article by clicking on the title! *

Thanks to Jerome who recently visited Erbil in Iraq and was kind enough to share his pictures to be published on BestSellingCarsBlog, I can share with you more detail about the Iraqi new car market for 2012. Granted, Erbil is quite a specific region in the country that has enjoyed significant growth recently, with most of the car park being under 7 years old, and it may not reflect the reality of Iraq as a whole but it is as good a starting point into a more detailed view of the Iraqi car market as anything.

Street scene in Erbil, Iraq, March 2013. Picture courtesy of Jerome R. (Click to enlarge)

Two models stand out from the crowd based on Jerome’s pictures and a techno-fuelled video of the streets of Erbil (available by clicking on ‘Read more’ before the jump): the Toyota Hilux and Kia Cerato. In fact, it would appear that the most popular models in Iraq are becoming very similar to other countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Street scene in Erbil, Iraq, March 2013. Picture courtesy of Jerome R. (Click to enlarge)

We can also notice a lot of Toyota Land Cruiser and its luxury version the Lexus LX570, Toyota Corolla and Camry but mostly as taxis. The new generation Kia Sportage also appears at every street corner, with the Nissan D22 pick-up, Kia Frontier, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio very popular…

Street scene in Erbil, Iraq, March 2013. Picture courtesy of Jerome R.

… as well as the new generations Hyundai Sonata, Elantra, Accent and Tucson. Expect the new Hyundai Santa Fe to start with a bang in 2013 given the amount of old gen models present on the streets. A few Nissan Tiida and Ford Expedition also make themselves noticed.

More street pictures and street video below.