The First Car

A first car is chosen for identity and pleasure as much as for transport, and it is often financed by the monthly payment rather than the total cost. In a study of 2.4 million car loans, a longer term moved buyers far more than a lower rate. The thrill of a new car is real, but on everyday drives the value of the car makes little difference to how people feel.

What the report found

1. The UAE is a country of new drivers. The UAE issued 558,191 new driving licences in 2025, and 318,981 new cars were sold in 2024, up 15.7 per cent on the year before. Since March 2025, people can hold a car licence from the age of 17.
2. A first car is more than transport. Research on why people drive finds that symbolic and emotional motives, such as identity, independence and pleasure, matter as much as practical ones, and cars are among the most visible things people buy.
3. People buy the monthly payment. In a study of 2.4 million car loans, a longer term raised the share of buyers accepting a loan far more than a lower interest rate. The UAE's clear limits on car loans, at most 80 per cent of the car's value over at most five years, give buyers a sound frame.
4. The thrill is real, then it settles. People expect a pricier car to feel much better to drive. In everyday drives, how people felt was unrelated to the value of their car; the car mattered when it was on their mind.
5. The first months are the learning months. In a study that followed new drivers for 18 months, the rate of crashes and near misses fell by about a third after the first six months, as experience grew. Practice in the early months pays off.

What is inside

1. The moment
2. Before: choosing the car
3. During: the deal and the first drives
4. The decisions that shift
5. How the moment is lived across the Gulf
6. What lasts

Plus a phase map of the moment, an illustrated first week with a new car and a data panel of UAE and Gulf figures.

Who it is for

For first time buyers and their families, and for dealers, lenders, insurers and employers in the UAE and the Gulf.

How we work

Moment Reports look at how people think and decide at particular points in the year or in life, starting with the UAE and then the wider Gulf. Every claim is graded Established, Emerging or Untested, and where researchers disagree, both sides are set out before we say where we stand.

Cite this report

The Why We Project (2026) The First Car: Freedom, status and the monthly payment. Moment Report No. 02. Dubai: Why We Tech Ltd. Available at: thewhyweproject.com