World View
Global Dispatches From ABC News Reporters
ABC News staff around the world report on what makes the news and what doesn't.
RECENT POSTS
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
From Car Bombs to Car Sales in Baghdad
November 20, 2008 12:18 PM
By Aadel Rashid and Vladimir Lozinski, ABC News Baghdad
Saad Haseeb, a 34-year-old camera-shop owner, is searching for a new car.
In one of Baghdad's many emerging car lots, he checked them out for the usual features. "I am looking for accessories, comfort, DVD player, plasma screens in the back, in a pimp-my-ride style," he said. “I don’t care about mileage. Petrol costs 40 cent per liter and with all the checkpoints, holes in the road and traffic jams, I would never get over 80km per hour anyway."
Despite the dangers of showing off wealth in Baghdad, Haseeb is keen to prove he has made it, even though such a high profile vehicle can draw the attention of gangsters and kidnap gangs who still operate “below the radar” here.
He also sees it as an investment. Iraq has an unusual car market; unlike in many other countries, where a car immediately loses value the moment it rolls out of the showroom, in Iraq, his car will be worth 10 percent more within two months because of the demand for new cars.
Last year, the Iraqi government banned the importation of models older than 2007 in an attempt to reduce the number of vehicles that jam the concrete walled streets here.
Waleed Alwan , a 42-year-old supermarket owner, loves the 2007 KIA Sportage he bought for $14,000. In order to register it, he had to buy a dilapidated 1973 Volkswagen for its registration plate. It is worth $2,500, 10 times the price of the car. The Iraqi government is building a factory to make new number plates. It has promised to have them available in the first quarter of 2009, but many Iraqi drivers, impatient to hit the road, are buying up old cars just for their number plates.
Under Saddam Hussein's regime the number of cars in Baghdad was estimated to be 1 million, according to the Iraqi traffic department. After five years of war, there are more than 3 million vehicles crammed on the city’s chaotic roads. The flow of secondhand cars that come in via Jordan and United Arab Emirates has now ebbed.
Despite the security situation and suffocating traffic jams, Iraqi car dealers are selling Hummers, GMCs, Suburbans, Jeeps and Land Cruisers. “There are many people wanting to buy a big new car despite the security risks,” said Riyadh Ali, a luxury car dealer in Baghdad. “Only rich people can afford to buy them. They cost between $23,000 and $58,000 but business is good.”
There are also people who are looking for a simple, practical solution to their needs.
“I bought my 2006, 3-liter GMC to carry my two wives and six children,” said Haider, who works as a driver. “I also work transporting people between Baghdad and Basra and it will need less maintenance.” A practical voice in this new consumer society.
Read more blogs from Aadel Rashid
Read more blogs from Vladimir Lozinski
November 20, 2008 in Aadel Rashid | Permalink | User Comments (7)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
> The surge worked???
Posted by: Jazz | Nov 20, 2008 12:37:10 PM
IMPEACH BUSH NOW! ALL HE'S WANTED TO DO IS MAKE HIM AND ALL HIS MIDDLE EASTERN CRONIES RICH, WHILE THE U.S.A. GOES DOWN THE TOILET. STOP THE 10BIL A MONTH GOING OVER THERE NOW!!! WHAT A JOKE! ARE WE BLIND OR JUST STUPID! I SEE THE CAR IN THE PICTURE IS A NISSON, WHY AREN'T WE SHIPPING ALL THESE UNBOUGHT AMERICAN CARS OVER TO IRAQ AND MAKE SOME MONEY! OH! I FORGOT THE'LL TAKE OUR MONEY, BUT WON'T BUY OUR CARS.
Posted by: SHE MI | Nov 20, 2008 1:28:39 PM
Very silly rant there, SHE MI....impeach Bush? dude is gonna lose his job in a couple months...and life for most Iraqi's is improving...and fyi, the USA isn't "going down the toilet"...the economy is in a continued negative growth period, but will eventually upright itself...don't panic...
Posted by: Jazz | Nov 20, 2008 1:36:02 PM
Oh, but the American Troops who made this all possible are still war criminals.
Posted by: Tush Barr | Nov 20, 2008 4:03:48 PM
POSTED BY JAZZ--are you NUTS?? If it weren't for the US troops, you would not know the freedoms that you know today. I think you should be thankful for the troops, like me that would put themselves in harms way just in a hope of improving a society. In addition, the freedoms we give to people like you so you can have you ramblings and your freedom of speech. You should be ashamed of your self!!
Posted by: Skyshark | Nov 20, 2008 4:44:09 PM
Sorry Jazz!! It was Tush Barr that went on the spat..not you.
Posted by: skyshark8 | Nov 20, 2008 4:45:09 PM
Skyshark obviously doesn't understand sarcasm.
Posted by: Smartee | Nov 21, 2008 4:17:18 PM
Post a comment
