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28 March 2024

Ramadan car hunt: Models grabbing UAE residents' attention

Infographics: Supplied

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Most car dealers try to wow those looking for a new set of wheels during the holy month of Ramadan. The offers include cash discounts, free insurance, extended warranties and service packages to lure customers into changing their old cars.

This urge to change/upgrade cars is not only seen in the brand new category, but also in the used car segment.

According to Dubizzle, a classifieds website in the region, several residents surf and scout for a good deal on wheels during this time of the year.

Its data shows that during Ramadan 2014, the top three searches for used car brands were BMW, Honda and Jeep; while the top three searched car models were Ford Mustang, Mercedes C63 and Honda Civic.

Toyota tops the most listed sedan cars in the country. The findings show that Toyota came first with its Camry model at an average price of Dh32,172.24 with an average mileage of 114,192km and model of the year 2008.

The second and third places went to Honda Civic 2009 and Accord 2010. Luxury cars were among the top three most searched sedan cars in the UAE. Mercedes and Porsche took the first and second place with their AMG C63 and Panamera models, while the third place went to Toyota Camry.

Among the German models in the UAE, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class took the first place, followed by Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW came third with its 3-Series models. For the top three most searched German models in the UAE, Mercedes-Benz C63 came first, Porsche 911 4S came second, and Mercedes-Benz G63 & S63 AMG came third.

Convertible cars were also something that people looked up on the website with the most searched being the Mini Cooper convertible, Audi A4 convertible and BMW M3 convertible.

The number one searched car throughout the year was the BMW 3-Series, followed by Land Rover’s Range Rover HSE and Jeep Wrangler.

Most people who took to Dubizzle to look for used cars performed the most searches at around 1pm and then the traffic dropped until after iftar, says the classifieds site. However, search activity went up again after iftar with a drop witnessed again during the night with the lowest search volume after imsak, around 6am.

A previous research by UAE-based online retail company, Awok.com, revealed that the hours between iftar and suhour are the most popular time to shop online in the country during this month.

Revealed: What UAE residents are buying between iftar and suhour



The company in its analysis witnessed an increase in sales between iftar and suhour times, demonstrating that post-iftar time is a popular time for online shopping for those who have just broken their fast.

Statistics also reveal that the site experienced a 35 per cent increase in sales in the period directly after iftar time and before suhour, indicating that those fasting are using their time in the evening to shop for products online.