Over 77 per cent vehicles in private use

MUSCAT, APRIL 9 - Of the total number of vehicles on the roads in Oman, a massive 77.7 per cent are registered for private use while the lowest 0.9 per cent is shared by government departments. According to figures released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), there were 1,498,362 vehicles registered for different uses by the end of February this year. This marks a rise of 3.6 per cent against 1,492,353 vehicles in the corresponding month in 2018.

“The news is positive for the automobile market which was otherwise flagged by waning sales in the recent past”, said Feroz Komath, a marketing executive with a reputed car brand.

The NCSI figures show that there has been a 4.4 per cent year on year rise in the number of private vehicles which stood at 1,163.627 at the end of February against 1,157,440 in the same month last year.

“But still it is worrying that there has not been any significant rise in the purchase of vehicles for commercial purpose and also by government entities”, said Feroz.

Government vehicles increased by just 1.6 per cent to reach 245,208 against 245,002, those registered for commercial purposes rose by 1.6 per cent to 245,208 during the period.

While rental vehicles continued to swell on the roads with 5.6 per cent jump to reach 23,592 during the period, the number of taxis reduced marginally by 3.5 per cent to 35,078.

Driving school vehicles also saw an upward trend with a 4.2 per cent rise.

The reason behind the drop in government purchase of cars, according to Saif al Lawati, a financial expert with a bank, is the austerity measures unveiled by the government during the oil price malaise in 2015.

Yet the automobile industry is optimistic that the market will gather further momentum during the holy month of Ramadan next.

“The rising crude oil prices coupled with the forthcoming season will bring it back to the level, even though not fully, the market will be back to where the market had been a few years ago”, said Feroz.