The Dean

This is of course entirely due to everybody switching to the superb and highly efficient Metro, and nothing at all to do with the vast number of expats who have left Dubai, and those that are still there deciding to hang on to their old cars because their job prospects (and hence their ability to repay the loans) are looking decidedly dodgy..............

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/59010...-registrations

Bahtatboy

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaHA

We have a new Master of Spin! The arse falls out of Dubai and the cause of new car sales plummeting is (nearly) all down to a white elephant...

Mandy, you've been eclipsed.

TGFKASE

And they print this less than 3 weeks after they printed this......

I sometimes wonder who at Arabian Business is handling their editorial policy....

Millhouse

Has the second hand car market improved?

Also, what about boats?

benzonar

I just bought a new car, but then I paid cash and made use of the fact that a lot of the sales guys in the dealers are pretty desperate at the moment.

Oh and my job is pretty secure.

MacScot

The Metro must have made a difference...no late afternoon, peak hour traffic jams between Dubai Marina and World Trade centre roundabout now...used to back up to the Mall of the Emirates.

The Dean

Just fewer people in Dubai, full stop. There are statistics to confirm this - if I can track them down, I'll post them.

Meow

But surely there are a few people who are using the Metro? Those for whom it is convenient?

-

Bahtatboy

And how do they get to their Metro stations? And has it stopped them buying a new car?

lionheart

Get on your bike like Commander.

busybee2

boats are very difficult to shift at the moment, due to the lack of berthing, there used to be berths at mina, but that is all due to go, and the dry berthing at the Big I has disappeared very very recently, it was temporary because they were going to build on it, which of course was put on hold, but it seems thats going ahead now. the problem is if you dont want to pay a lot for a wet berth, its difficult to find suitable places to actually put the boat in the water.

if you are interested there are at least 3 boats for sale on the noticeboard at bsak.

The Dean

There is a clever ruse with the Metro - they have introduced carriages with very few seats, so most people have to stand...

... thus making it appear 'crowded'.

I have been on it during peak and off-peak times (though not since April), and there are a few using it, but not enough to call it 'successful'.

GuyinUAE

I'm not entirely convinced by those figures. Firstly, do we know how many municipal vehicles (taxi's etc) were registered in the previous year. Also, just because they weren't registered in Dubai, does this mean the other emirates are the same? It is more than conceivable that you could live in Dubai, have a Visa from another Emirate and hence registered there and not Dubai.

GuyinUAE

Just read the related article that proves my point.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/58915...-in-2010---bmi

2009 was only 30,000 units down for the whole of the UAE which was actually a little less than I was thinking. Those other units look to have been regsitered in other emirates for some reason. So, the article about Dubai is pretty pointless and meaningless with regard to economic downturn and the monorail. Yes it went down, but not hugely and certainly not anywhere near the rest of the world.

The Dean

You're saying that, during the economic slowdown, Dubai didn't suffer as much as the rest of the world??? Can I borrow your rose-tinted glasses please??