BEIRUT, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Demand for vehicles in Lebanon witnessed a sharp drop in 2020 and the first four months of 2021, according to industry insiders.

Only 6,152 vehicles were sold by Lebanese car dealers in 2020 compared with 21,991 in 2019 and 33,012 in 2018, according to Salim Saad, advisor to Lebanon's association of cars importers.

A total of 574 cars were sold in the first four months of 2021, compared with 2,344 in the same period of 2020, Saad said.

Marwan Nachawaty, the sales consultant at Kettaneh, an importer of Audi and Volkswagen vehicles, attributed the plummet to the collapse of the local currency, which has devalued people's salaries by over 80 percent.

The collapse of the banking sector and the absence of loans led to the drop in Audi's sales by 50 percent in Lebanon, he added.

Lebanon has been facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis amid a shortage in U.S. dollar reserves and depreciation of the local currency. Enditem

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