Overview of Lebanon’s Automobile Market in 2022

Automobile sales in Lebanon increased by 53.3% from the previous year to 17,139 units in 2022. Although demand has recovered for two consecutive years, it remains below 40% of its peak level of 50,000 units from 2014 to 2017. Looking at sales by brand, Toyota maintained its lead with sales of 5,617 units, an increase of 31.1%. Five of the top 10 models are Toyota vehicles. Out of the top five brands, Mitsubishi, Kia, and Renault saw sales growth of around three times that of the previous year.

Although the automobile market has improved slightly, the country has been in turmoil in both the economy and politics since 2019. Lebanon has no president since October 2021, and the prime minister remains in an interim position. Since then, the country has not received support from international organizations or other countries, and its real GDP growth rate between 2020 and 2022 fell into negative territory. Although the World Bank expects the economy to turn positive by 0.5% in 2023, the implementation of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), worth 3 billion USD over a 46-month period agreed at the working level with the IMF in April 2022, has hit a deadlock. A year has passed since the agreement was reached, but little progress has been made on the reforms sought by the IMF, raising concerns that the financial crisis could recur.