Dubai, UAE begins to ban older vehicles from import and registration

[jdmvip]

I don't agree with this, but it makes sense if the government is claiming old vehicles are dangerous.

They haven't banned 20-year old cars yet to help the less fortunate, but it seems they want to do it as soon as possible.

After reading the article I'm still not clear what the status there is, whether the article is saying all the proposed bans of older vehicles are in effect, or if they won't be in effect.

If someone else understands what it's saying then please post here.



Rule banning 20-year-old vehicles postponed

By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Last updated: November 30, 2008, 23:51

Dubai: Vehicles more than 20 years old will still be allowed on the UAE's roads following instruction from President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The decision, issued on Sunday, postpones implementation of ministerial decision No. 535, 2008, which bans vehicles older than 20 years old on the country's roads. The decision was directed to take effect from Monday, December 1.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior said on Sunday that the decision was suspended, which set a cut-off date for the renewal of car registrations, for cars manufactured from 1988.
This previous decision was due to take effect from December 1.
More studies

Shaikh Saif said that the decision was postponed in order to give enough time for people of low income who own such vehicles, to continue using them.
"Shaikh Khalifa's decision is timely and aims to allow concerned authorities to conduct more studies and come up with suitable bylaws to put the ministerial decision into effect," Shaikh Saif said.
He thanked Shaikh Khalifa for his wise leadership and for serving the best interests of the UAE public.
Earlier, the ministry announced a decision that the registration of cars manufactured before 1988 would not be renewed, while the import of cars manufactured five years earlier would be banned.
The registration for cars manufactured 15 years ago would also not be renewed from January 2010.
In November, Gulf News reported that a total of 423,000 cars throughout the UAE would not be available for sale, under the ten-year old car rule.
However, while sale of the cars would be prohibited, registration could have been renewed for the current owners to continue using.
The total number of cars in the UAE was 1.85 million in November, putting the Emirates among nations with the highest car ownership per population in the world.
In Dubai, there are 541 cars per 1,000 of the population, which is the highest throughout the UAE.

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Shaikh Saif said that the decision was postponed in order to give enough time for people of low income who own such vehicles, to continue using them.
&quot;Shaikh Khalifa's decision is timely and aims to allow concerned authorities to conduct more studies and come up with suitable bylaws to put the ministerial decision into effect,&quot; Shaikh Saif said.
He thanked Shaikh Khalifa for his wise leadership and for serving the best interests of the UAE public.
Earlier, the ministry announced a decision that the registration of cars manufactured before 1988 would not be renewed, while the import of cars manufactured five years earlier would be banned.
The registration for cars manufactured 15 years ago would also not be renewed from January 2010.
In November, Gulf News reported that a total of 423,000 cars throughout the UAE would not be available for sale, under the ten-year old car rule.
However, while sale of the cars would be prohibited, registration could have been renewed for the current owners to continue using.
The total number of cars in the UAE was 1.85 million in November, putting the Emirates among nations with the highest car ownership per population in the world.
In Dubai, there are 541 cars per 1,000 of the population, which is the highest throughout the UAE.
[/quote]

[Sastrad]

Since the OP is old, many things have happened with Dubai as a centre for car importing/exporting.
As I had a car yard in Ajman UAE, I've got first-hand experience in the rise and fall of the car business in Dubai.
I was lucky to be able to sell my car yard for half of what I bought it for in 2006. In the complex of about 100 car yards, maybe half were still open. Of those half, they seemed to have a lot of stock, but little action.
The car business for Africa has moved from Dubai to Mombassa Kenya. So, most African buyers are going to Kenya because its cheaper to transport cars from Mombassa to inland countries, or either north or south countries along the east coast.
I still do a google earth on my old car yard. I miss having the business there, but also am glad to have been able to get out. I would go back and do business there again, but I don't think it will be in cars.

[jdmvip]

I remember you mentioned having a lot there before and that is too bad. A cab driver told us a car like "Nissan Sunny" works out to like $1200 CAD (converted from AED), so I can see the profit margins are very small, but it does make cars affordable there.