(For other news from the Reuters Global Luxury Summit, click on (http://www.reuters.com/summit/GlobalLuxury09?PID=500))
By Raissa Kasolowsky
DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) - Dubai's used car market is seeing fewer high-end cars being sold for quick cash by owners adapting to lower or no income in a global downturn, but dealers say this number could pick up again in June and July.
Thousands of expatriates have been made redundant in the Gulf trade and tourism hub of Dubai since the financial crisis triggered a real estate crash late last year that ended a six-year economic boom.
"Between December and April we saw big discounts on high-end cars," said Syed Ali, owner of classifieds website www.autodealer.ae.
"They were guys who had bought expensive cars and had lost their jobs and were maybe leaving the country and had to sell."
Al-Futtaim Automall, a Dubai-based car company, said it also saw its client base shift to the luxury end in the first three months of the year.
"From January to March there was a decline in the number of people coming in wanting to sell their cars for cash," said Yolanda Delport, general marketing manager at Trading Enterprises Al-Futtaim.
"But the people who were coming in were more on the high-end side. We found they were people with commissioned-based salaries and as the market corrected itself they were looking to sell their expensive cars," she said.
Ali said the worst period was around February and March, when hundreds of distress sales would appear on his website every week.
"But the past month or so things are improving. That type of distress sales is reducing," he said. "People who had lost their jobs and are leaving, that has gone down."
Recruiters say companies across Dubai are cutting fewer jobs than they were earlier this year, although new hiring is likely to remain slow until employers are sure the worst of the downturn has passed.
Dubai is one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates federation, where more than 80 percent of the population is foreign and can only reside there if employed.
Al-Futtaim's used car division has also seen its clientele change again.
"Now we see a better balance. It's people who have a bit more consumer confidence or those who are getting rid of their second and third cars," Delport said.
A rise in sales and the improvement in sentiment is largely to do with banks being more ready to lend again, said Malik Awad, director of Target Auto.
Target Auto's sales in May were down 10 percent versus the same period in 2008, while sales in February and March were down by 20 to 30 percent compared to last year, Awad said.
Car dealers have also been working with lenders to come up with initiatives to help clients secure financing to buy a car.
General Motors Corp said last month it had been working with banks in the Middle East to help consumers secure access to car loans, by for instance assisting with downpayments of up to 15,000 dirhams ($4,084).
Al-Futtaim Automotive has even introduced a redundancy insurance product to tempt back hesitant buyers.
"The newly launched redundancy coverage is the next building block in terms of addressing consumer confidence," said Len Hunt, group director.
Dealers say the market in Dubai has always seen a rise in the number of people putting cars for sale when the school year nears its end and expatriates leave the country, but there are fears this year it may be worse due to the global recession.
"In June, July, everyone is saying there will be an exodus of a lot of families as people who lost their jobs may have waited until the school year ends to leave," Ali said. (Editing by Rupert Winchester) (For summit blog: http://summitnotebook.reuters.com/)