The United Arab Emirates imports more salvage cars from the USA than any other country. It's a profitable business, with tens of thousands of cars being purchased from US salvage car auctions and sent to the port of Jebel Ali. They are imported for a number of reasons; either to be fixed up and resold locally, or to get re-exported to surrounding countries. Due to safety concerns however, the UAE government is imposing a ban on salvage vehicles for road use starting on May 1st.
Salvage cars will no longer be allowed to be registered and insured in the UAE. But the government will leave the door open for re-exports of salvage vehicles through the UAE to surrounding countries. Business will also be allowed to import salvage cars for parts.
After the new law goes into effect, the UAE will see a drop in the number of cars imported from the USA, Germany and Japan. We have previously seen a dramatic fall in volume when other nations forbid the import of salvage cars completely.
