Chinese brands account for 38% of the newest cars on Qatar’s roads

Qatar’s car market is growing, and the mix of brands on its roads is changing faster than at any time in the past decade. The Ministry of Interior’s vehicle register counted 1,397,202 active vehicles on September 30, 2026. Among the newest of them, Chinese brands account for 38.0% of the 2025 models among cars and commercial vehicles, up from 1.6% of the 2016 models, while Japanese brands moved from 66.3% to 40.9% (Exhibit 1). Toyota still leads with 23.6%, and Jetour, whose first vehicles on the register are 2023 models, is now second with 13.8%.¹ Imports tell the same story of growth: Qatar brought in QAR 12.7 billion of passenger cars in 2025, against QAR 5.0 billion in 2023.²

For distributors, fleet operators, financiers, insurers, and aftersales suppliers, these shifts change what to stock, how to price risk, and where service capacity is needed. This article sets out what the official registers and trade statistics show about the size of the fleet, the brands buyers in Qatar are choosing, and the imports behind them, and what each means for companies in the sector.

A larger, busier market

Of the 1.4 million active vehicles on the register, 959,777 belong to individuals and 437,424 to companies. Private plates account for 939,159 vehicles and private-transport plates, which cover commercial vehicles, for 308,795.¹ New registrations recorded by the National Planning Council (NPC) rose from 65,680 in 2019 to 94,822 in 2022 and were about 83,000 in 2023. The NPC’s latest monthly figures, for January to August 2024, show 62,163 new vehicles, 13.7% more than in the same months of 2023.³

The number of drivers has grown with the fleet. The NPC recorded 112,809 new driving licences in 2022, against 97,853 in 2019, and the Ministry of Interior’s licence register held 1.32 million licences in September 2026.^{3, 1} Women hold 15.9% of them, and 19.5% of those first issued in 2025.¹ The resale market is active: ownership transfers reached 367,743 in 2022, up from 262,673 in 2018.³ More traffic has come with safer roads. Deaths in traffic accidents fell from 222 in 2022 to 144 in 2025, a reduction of 35%, while domestic gasoline use rose from 41.3 thousand to 52.8 thousand barrels a day over the same period.^{4, 5}

The brand mix: Chinese makers now supply more than a third of the newest vehicles

For a decade, Japanese brands supplied about two-thirds of the new vehicles bought in Qatar: 68.3% of the 2015 models and 66.5% of the 2019 models. Chinese brands then rose in steps, to 13.3% of the 2021 models, 17.2% of the 2024 models, and 38.0% of the 2025 models, while Japanese brands moved to 40.9% (Exhibit 1). Korean brands have held a steady 6% to 10% throughout. US and European brands each account for a smaller share of the newest vehicles than they did a decade ago, at 5.0% and 7.6% of the 2025 models.¹

The change spans several brands. Among the 2025 models, Jetour holds 13.8%, MG 3.7%, Geely 3.6%, Great Wall 2.7%, Chery 2.5%, and BYD 2.3%, alongside Toyota at 23.6%, Nissan at 4.4%, Mitsubishi and Lexus at 3.9% each, and Kia at 3.8% (Exhibit 2). Qatari buyers are part of the shift: of the 2025 models owned by Qatari individuals, 38.0% are Chinese brands and 42.1% Japanese. Women own 27.1% of the 2025 models registered to individuals.¹

How we read the registers

The Ministry of Interior publishes its vehicle and driving-licence registers as open data, with each vehicle’s plate type, brand, the year of its model, owner type, and status, and each licence’s first issue date. We used the version updated on September 30, 2026. Counting active vehicles by the year of their model shows the brand mix of each year’s purchases; almost all recent models are still on the register, while older models are thinned by exports and deregistration. We restricted the analysis to private and private-transport plates, which excludes motorcycles, trailers, and equipment, and classified 107 brands by home market. The licence register counts licences still held, so we use it to describe licence holders and the NPC series for licences issued.

Imports: more cars, from more places, with a first electrified wave

Trade statistics confirm the momentum. Passenger car imports were QAR 5.0 billion in 2023, QAR 8.1 billion in 2024, and QAR 12.7 billion in 2025. Part of that flow is re-exported, reaching QAR 3.9 billion in 2025, so cars retained in the country rose from QAR 3.6 billion in 2023 to QAR 8.8 billion in 2025, about two and a half times as much (Exhibit 3).² The NPC’s vehicle trade totals agree with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s own series within 1.5% for 2019 to 2023.⁷

The origin of imports has broadened. In 2025, China supplied 29.1% of the value of Qatar’s car imports, up from 3.0% in 2019, and 45.8% of the cars imported: 52,003 of 113,463. Japan supplied 44.4% of the value and 30.5% of the cars, the United States 6.1% and 3.8%, and Germany 4.1% and 2.0% (Exhibit 4). China’s share of cars is higher than its share of value because cars from China averaged about QAR 71,000 in declared value in 2025, against about QAR 163,000 for cars from Japan.⁶

Electrified cars are arriving from a low base. Cars declared at customs as hybrid or electric made up 1.0% of the value of passenger car imports in 2023, 3.3% in 2024, and 6.4% in 2025. Plug-in hybrids accounted for most of the growth, at QAR 591 million in 2025, with battery-electric cars at QAR 197 million.² Imports of parts and accessories were QAR 635 million in 2025, a market that grows with every new brand on the road.²

What this means for companies in the sector

A market that changes its brand mix this quickly rewards companies that plan from the registers rather than from impressions. This is the kind of market evidence we bring to strategy consulting in Qatar.

• Distributors: plan portfolios around the newest models. Four of the ten leading brands among the 2025 models were not in the top ten of the 2016 models. Brand portfolios, showroom space, and stock should follow the mix of the newest vehicles, which the register makes visible.
• Aftersales and parts: build capacity for the newer brands. Thousands of vehicles from brands with a short history in Qatar are likely to reach their first major services and repairs over the next few years. Parts stock, trained technicians, and warranty agreements take time to put in place.
• Fleet and rental operators: match fleets to the market. Companies own 437,424 active vehicles. Fleet choices affect running costs, resale values, and what customers expect to drive, and the register allows each operator to benchmark its own fleet against the market.
• Financiers and insurers: price new brands on evidence. Residual values and repair costs for brands with few years on Qatari roads are still forming. Underwriting and lending terms can draw on the register’s data on vehicle age, brand, and ownership as that history builds.
• Traders: use the resale and re-export channels. With 367,743 ownership transfers in 2022 and QAR 3.9 billion of passenger cars re-exported in 2025, Qatar is an active used-car market and a trading point for re-exports. Sourcing, reconditioning, and export services are part of the same opportunity.

A market that changes its brand mix this quickly rewards companies that plan from the registers rather than from impressions.

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Qatar’s vehicle market combines a growing fleet, rising imports, safer roads, and buyers who are open to new brands. The official data now let companies see these changes as they happen, one year’s models at a time. Those that read them closely, and adjust their brands, service networks, and pricing accordingly, are likely to be best placed as the market continues to grow.