Most of the African buyers are buying substantial quantities of automotive batteries, tyres, spare parts, ball bearings, water pumps and a host of electronic goods from Dubai for selling them at a profit in their own countries. "The African customers price-sensitive - they are looking for low priced goods and are not much concerned about the quality aspect," says Ahmed of Popular Tyres Trading, one of the largest stockists of tyres, tubes and batteries in the UAE. "Chinese tyres are in great demand in African markets as they are cheap and provide excellent value for money," he says.
With price taking the upper hand over quality for many buyers, the market for substandard spare parts will always exist. This is a demand that many manufacturers and dealers are all too keen to satisfy. While some of the cheaper spares are imported through the proper channels, there is also a significant area of parallel imports of spare parts. Illegal imports from neighbouring countries have been increasing at an 
alarming rate since 1991 when imports grew from Dhs 13 million to Dhs 51 million in 1994. A consequence of such imports is loss of income, loss of business, loss of reputation and credibility and deterioration of the brand image. This not only deprives the government of much needed income but also gives the illegal importer an unfair pricing advantage over the authorised agent.
The used spare parts market in the UAE is as old as that of automobiles. In the last ten years, it has become a full-fledged multi-million dirham business involving a large number of small and large enterprises spread all over the country. Many such outlets also deal in used engines which they import from Japan and then re-export to many African and Asian countries, including Russia, India, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan. Second hand spare parts normally come from damaged cars sold by insurance companies and the rest from police auctions. These agents sell mechanical parts at 25 per cent of the price of new genuine parts but the body parts, which are in more demand, are often sold at around half the price of new ones. The rates, however, vary from part-to-part subject to the condition of the spare and the availability of that part in the market.
Dealers of the genuine spares say that they don`t feel any threat from the used spare parts market simply because new genuine parts are purchased by only those who can afford them and more particular about the trouble-free running of their cars. Some of the spare parts dealers consider used parts as direct competition to duplicate parts because of the price margin between the two are close than new genuine parts. People prefer buying used spare parts because they are genuine and are often in good condition. Every spare parts outlet may not provide the full range of used parts of all car models but together the market is capable of providing nearly 90 per cent of such parts. The majority of second hand spares end up in the local UAE market, with customers coming from nearby GCC states. On the other hand, almost the entire stock of imported used engines is re-exported.
Used engines are in good demand in many African and Asian countries, especially those with big re-conditioned car markets. The diversified range of used mechanical and body parts of cars and engines has brought this business parallel to genuine and non-genuine new spare parts businesses as it offers big variety at affordable prices. Dubai has rightly developed a reputation as being a buyer`s market. a glance at the prices of various products confirms that no other place in the Middle East provides such a variety of goods at such low prices.
The decisive factor is that over the decades, Dubai has developed a substantial community of retailers, a sophisticated import system and substantial warehousing for stock. This has lead to the emergence of a keenly competitive market that ensures that prices in Dubai are as much as 10 to 15 per cent lower than in neighbouring markets. [Dubai continues to be number one for buying anything from second hand cars to automobile spare parts and ballbearings," says Pradeep Gupta of Ameeco Marketing, a leading supplier of ball and roller bearings. Analysts say sales of automobile spare parts and accessories in the Gulf has risen by 20-25 per cent in 1997 despite the sharp oil price fall in the year. Several reasons are cited for this development.
One of the most extraordinary new trends in the UAE since the 
1990s has been the explosion in the number of visitors from the republics of the former Soviet Union lured by the many ways money can be made in the Gulf. Enterprising Russians have been travelling to Dubai on specially-chartered flights to buy as many products as they can carry for re-sale at huge profits at home. An estimated 100,000 tourists from the former Soviet republics travel to the UAE each year. Each visitor is estimated to spend a minimum of $10,000 in local shops. More than a quarter of this goes on automobile spare parts and related products. As the spare parts trade to Africa gains in stature, there is bound to be new demands from within the African market. The UAE, with its strategic location and its well established distribution network, can reap rich dividends by catering to the increasing demand for automobile spares, ball bearings and lubricants in the fast developing markets of Africa.
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