Overview of Qatar’s Automobile Market in 2022

Qatar’s automobile sales in 2022 increased by 35.5% year-on-year to 56,668 units, significantly exceeding the pre-coronavirus level of some 45,000 units in 2019. This is the first time in five years that sales exceeded 50,000 units, but it remains two-thirds of the last peak of 90,000-100,000 units from 2013 to 2015.

Looking at sales by brand, Toyota maintained a 50% share with demand increasing by 58.7% to 21,008 units. Nissan in second place struggled with sales increasing only by 0.1% to 5,003 units. Suzuki’s sales rose 2.2 times to 2,857 units, rising from 10th place the previous year to 4th position.

Qatar has been promoting the introduction of BEV buses in preparation for the World Cup, and China’s Yutong Motors has cooperated with this initiative. Yutong Bus delivered 741 BEV buses to local public transportation operator Mowasalat by July 2022. Furthermore, in April 2023, Yutong Bus and Mowasalat signed a memorandum of understanding regarding BEV business in Qatar. The core idea is to jointly carry out R&D of BEV buses and activities to popularize BEVs in the country.