Lebanon’s automobile market seemingly defies economic analysis, as it’s currently experiencing growth while others are in decline. In the Gulf, automobiles sales in the first quarter have plunged by some 23 percent and in the United Arab Emirates alone by 45 percent, while Lebanon saw 19 percent growth in sales. Last year, when the financial crisis came to a head, the Lebanese car sector had its best results in years, increasing from around 20,000 units sold in 2007 to more than 35,000 units in 2008. As Fayez Rasamny, vice chairman of Rymco, the dealer for Nissan, Infiniti and GMC put it, 2008 was a “perfect year.” “The sector was growing very fast last year, no one had stocks so [we] ordered more and en route shipments were even pre-sold. There was no holding cost of inventories,” he said. For Rymco, the market leader, 2008 certainly was an excellent year, with
