The consumer confidence in the UAE has continued to build, in conjunction with the resurgence of the real estate market in tandem with the stability in financial markets, said an expert.

“Dubai’s real estate market was one of the fastest to come out of the crisis - many other countries are still suffering whereas we’ve seen positive signs across the UAE, and other industries are closely following suit,” said Asad Badami, the managing director of A-MAP, a leading distributor of aftermarket automotive spare parts, batteries, tires and lubricants.

"More retail outlets are opening up across Dubai, international organizations are continuing to expand here, and confidence in the market has definitely grown," he noted.

“There has been a rapid growth in population numbers over the past year or so, which we can all easily see just by the number of vehicles coming onto the roads. Year on year we are seeing records broken, and this is bolstered by our own figures - our retail clients have doubled since the start of the year and we have yet to finish off the third quarter,” he added.

The demand for products such as automotive batteries comes hand-in-hand with increased vehicles on the road, and A-MAP has seen distribution of its Solite brand of batteries surpass 200,000 units in the retail sector alone, said Badami.

“For A-MAP overall we had set a target to achieve 25 per cent growth, and we are well on track to meet that before the third quarter ends, and surpass it completely by the end of the year. Retail sales have played a large role in that growth, and we’ve had to double our team on the ground to meet demands,” Badami added.

On par with the UAE’s impressive growth, Badami said that Saudi Arabia has been key to exceeding 2013 expectations.

“We’ve expanded in a big way in Saudi Arabia and have already seen phenomenal growth there. Consumption is quite high as a result of the population growth and vast number of projects underway, and this is reflective of greater confidence in the regional economy,” he added.

A-MAP, which was established in 2001, has seen its total scope of operations more than double in size since 2011.

The company specialises in the distribution of automotive batteries, tyres, spare parts and lubricants, with its significant brand names including Asimco brake pads, Fenix tyres, RBI rubber products, in addition to Solite batteries.-TradeArabia News Service