Qatar 7 months 2020: Toyota Land Cruiser cruises to 16.4% share, GMC Sierra #8, volumes off -23.5%

The Toyota Land Cruiser holds a mammoth 16.4% share in Qatar in 2020.

The Qatari new car market is down -23.5% year-on-year over the first 7 months of 2020 to 20.010 units. After Q1 volumes dipped -6.2%, April was off -43.8% to 2.019 vs. 3.591, May imploded -67.9% to 1.237 vs. 3.857, June was down -29.1% to 2.335 vs. 3.296 and July edged down just -5.6% to 2.955 vs. 3.129. Toyota (-16.7%) signs the best hold in the Top 4 to cross the 40% share milestone at 40.3% vs. 37.1% over the same period last year. Nissan (-35.6%), Kia (-29.8%) and Mitsubishi (-25.3%) all lose share year-on-year bur ensure the Top 4 remains unchanged. Lexus (-16%) overtakes Hyundai (-26.4%) while Ram (+50.4%), Dodge (+45%), Suzuki (+23.7%), Jeep (+16.7%) and MG (+5.2%) post the only year-on-year gains in the Top 20 just as GMC (-7.1%) resists well. Changan lands at #18 and Geely at #33.

In the models ranking, both the Toyota Land Cruiser (-15.8%) and Hilux (-15.2%) improve their share, to 16.4% and 5.6% respectively, thanks to relatively contained drops. The Nissan Sunny (-28.3%) is knocked down to 33 while the Toyota Hiace (+72.1%) lurches 8 spots to #4 above the Lexus LX (-14.3%) and Nissan Patrol (-15.2%). The Mitsubishi L200 (+41.8%) and GMC Sierra (+24.1%) also score fantastic gains in the remainder of the Top 10, while the Toyota Rush (+141%) does so just outside. The Kia Pegas (#20) is an instant blockbuster in Qatar, topping recent launches above the Kia Seltos (#28), MG RX8 (#41), MG5 (#45), Land Rover Defender (#54) reaching its highest Middle Eastern ranking so far, MG HS (#60) and Jeep Gladiator (#68).

Previous post: Qatar Q1 2020: GMC (+91.3%), MG (+20.2%) defy market down -6.2%

One year ago: Qatar First Half 2019: Toyota up to 35.1% share, Land Cruiser untouchable

Full 7 months 2020 Top 35 All-brands and Top 60 models vs. Full 2019 figures below.