Car sales in the Middle East have largely gone unaffected by the global financial turmoil. According to Renault MD Mohammed Bennani, sales in the Gulf States grew by 26% in the first half of 2008, with the UAE up 34%. “The only way for car makers to grow is to look at the emerging markets”, he says. “We do not expect a slow down in the GCC, it is a highly competitive market. The world's spotlight is on the region, it's attracting a lot of people, and the love for cars here was also a surprise for me”. Most of the region's manufacturers are seeing double-digit growth in sales volume, and the increase is expected to continue for another five years at least. Market leader Toyota for example was 31 percent up in the first half of this year, at around 260,000 units. There is no official data on total vehicle sales in the Middle East, but industry executives expect sales of new vehicles in the Gulf – comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE – to grow to around 1.2 million cars and light trucks this year, some 10% up on 2007.