Iraq 7 months 2020: Volumes down -38.4%, Toyota (+4.7%), Jeep (+5.5%), Nissan (+15.1%) survive

Toyota Corolla sales in Iraq are up 3-fold year-on-year in 2020.

New light vehicle sales in Iraq sink -38.4% year-on-year over the first 7 months of 2020 to 27.604 units. After Q1 volumes dropped -15.4%, April sales were off -74.7% to 1.445 from 5.721 a year ago, May was down -50.9% from 6.126 to 3.010, June was at -56.9% to 2.907 vs. 6.742 while July seemed to indicate the start of a recovery at -37.4% to 4.675 vs. 7.463 in July 2019. Kia (-44%) remains the most popular carmaker in Iraq so far this year at a commanding 34.7% share, and even though Toyota (+4.7%) brilliantly bucks the negative trend with an uptick, it’s only to reach 23% share, well below Kia. Meanwhile Hyundai (-47.1%) drops to #3 with 21% of the market, meaning these three brands account for almost 80% of the Iraqi market in 2020 (78.7% exactly). Below Mitsubishi (-68.8%) in dire straits, Jeep (+5.5%) and Nissan (+15.5%) both post fantastic gains while Changan lands directly at #7 with 1.4% share. Fellow Chinese fare MG also makes its appearance in the Iraqi charts at #20 with just 10 units sold for now.

Despite Santa Fe sales up 80%, Hyundai is off -47.1% in 2020.

Model-wise, the Kia Frontier (-34.5%) is still by far the best-selling vehicle in the country at 15.9% share, up one percentage point on a year ago and widening the gap with its direct follower the Hyundai Tucson (-43.1%) down to 11.7% share. The Toyota Hilux (+7.4%) soars 4 spots to land on the third step of the podium, leapfrogging past the Kia Sorento (-40.6%), Sportage (-45.3%) and Mitsubishi L200 (-68.6%). But the real hero of the Top 10 is the Toyota Corolla (+203.4%) up 3-fold on the same period last year and 12 spots to #10 thanks to its new generation. The Jeep Grand Cherokee (+0.6%) and Toyota Land Cruiser (-3.7%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10. Just below, the Hyundai Santa Fe (+80%) and Nissan X-Trail (+41.8%) also impress. The most popular new launch is the Hyundai Reina (#20), followed by the Changan Alsvin (#21), Kia Pegas (#25), Seltos (#27), Changan CS75 (#37), Eado (#39), CS35 (#45) and CS95 (#47).

Previous post: Iraq Q1 2020: Toyota (+64%) catches up on Kia (-30.5%) in market down -15.4%

One year ago: Iraq H1 2019: Hyundai and Mitsubishi help market up 71.6%

Full 7 months 2020 Top 20 All-brands and Top 50 models vs. Full 2019 figures below.