*Increase in private vehicles' new registration


The automobile sector in Qatar appears to be in the fast lane with it witnessing about 4% annual growth in November, mainly paced by private vehicles’ new registration, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) data.
However, auto loans from the commercial banks in the country were on rough ride with the credit to both the nationals and the expatriates registering declines in the review period, the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) suggests.
The new vehicles registration stood at 5,690 in November last year, which however saw 13.5% decline month-on-month.
The new registration of private vehicles reported about 14% rise to 4,184 units, which accounted for 74% of the new vehicles. On a monthly basis, it was down more than 9% in the review period.
According to the central bank data, auto loans for Qataris and expatriates had fallen 18% and 30% respectively during the month in review. Personal loans for Qataris had fallen marginally by about 1%; while those to expatriates recorded about 3% growth.
The new registration of trailers surged more than 64% to 64; indicating the increased commercial activities in the country. It saw 28% increase month-on-month in November 2019. It constituted a little over 1% of total new vehicles.
The new registration of private transport vehicles stood at 962; constituting 17% of the total in the review period. Such registration, however, fell 18% and 23% year-on-year and month-on-month respectively in November 2019.
The new registrations of private motorcycles were 228 or 4% of the new vehicles in November last year. The new registration fell 49% and 24% on yearly and monthly basis, respectively.
The new registration of heavy equipment saw a marginal 0.8% jump to 121 units, constituting 2% of the total in November 2019. On a yearly basis, the new registration declined 5%.
The new registration of other vehicles stood at 131, more than tripling year-on-year in November 2019. On a monthly basis, it, however, witnessed 42% dip in the review period.
The PSA data also revealed that in the case of renewal of vehicles, it stood at 62,421 in November last year, registering 1% and 11% decline year-on-year and month-on-month respectively.
The transfer of ownership was reported in 24,448 vehicles in the review period, which saw about 7% rise on a yearly basis; while it was down 10% month-on-month.
The re-registration of vehicles more than tripled year-on-year to 341 in November 2019 and on a monthly basis, it grew about 42%.
During the period, total number of driving licenses recorded 3% year-on-year jump to 8,090; of which non-Qatari males constituted 5,176 (about 64% of the total) and non-Qatari females 2,421 (30%). On a monthly basis, total number of driving licenses witnessed more than 10% decline.
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