Who drives the most expensive cars in the UAE?

Dubai-based online portal ServiceMarket analysed customer data on its car insurance comparison portal. Using a sample of 7,000 clients that have used ServiceMarket in 2017 to receive car insurance quotations and buy policies online, the startup identified five interesting car and insurance trends in the UAE:

1. Women Emiratis drive the most expensive cars: When looking at average car values the data shows that Emirati drivers own the most expensive cars, closely followed by Western expats. A further breakdown of the data by sex revealed women Emirati drivers look to insure cars that are about 25 percent more expensive than their male compatriots, with an average car value above AED125,000. Among Western expats, men drivers have a higher average car value compared to women drivers.

2. UAE drivers are very last minute: Close to a third (30 percent) of clients using the portal look to buy their car insurance within a day of their registration renewal date. However, Asian expats start looking for car insurance the most in advance, while Emirati and GCC nationals typically start shopping for car insurance closer to the expiry date of their policy.

3. Many young drivers own expensive cars: About 15 percent of drivers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are younger than 25 years. Ten percent aged between 25 to 35 years are looking to insure cars worth more than AED150,000.

4. More than half of all cars are less than four years old: More than half (55 percent) of customers looking for car insurance on ServiceMarket are driving cars that are either brand new or have been first registered in the past three years. Currently, 2015 models are the most common.

5. Men and women prefer different car models: While cars such as the Mitsubishi Pajero are equally common amongst men and women, the data gathered by ServiceMarket suggests that the Kia Sportage and Nissan Juke are particularly popular with women, whereas Honda’s Civic and Accord models are more often insured with men.