Resilient Autos Market To Show Steady Growth

Bahrain's automotive market held up remarkably well in 2009, with only a slight decline in sales. In many other countries, sales have plunged from 2008 levels, in some cases by as much as 75%. Bahrain, however, posted only a marginal economic decline of 0.1%, as reported by BMI's Country Risk Team. Vehicle sales also fell only fractionally, by 0.1% to 44,585 from 44,650 in 2008, according to BMI estimates. The fall was caused by a range of factors, including tighter lending, inventory shortage and lower demand as consumers felt the pinch of slowing growth and put off big-ticket purchases until the threat of recession had passed.

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