Manama -- Bahraini demand for Chinese vehicles is increasing with car imports from China reaching nearly 18 million Bahrain dinars ($48 million) in 2021.

Ridha Mohammed Abas, a showroom manager of China's auto manufacturer Changan, said that the Changan vehicles were introduced in Bahrain in 2018, and their sales have been climbing over the years.

The high demand is mainly for two reasons, the innovative designs and the increasing confidence of local consumers in Chinese vehicles, he told Xinhua.

People want to have Chinese cars because they are reliable, with distinctive features and competitive prices, Ridha explained.

"We opened a larger showroom, and the maintenance and post-sale services have drastically improved in the past years," he explained.

The affordability was the main reason that made Fatima Mohammed, a Bahraini, buy Chery Tiggo as her first and only car in 2019. "I fell in love with the car as I wanted an SUV, and it was within my budget. The car is still with the same performance as the first day I bought it," she told Xinhua.

Noora Khamis Al Sadoon, the director of economic statistics at Bahrain's Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA), affirmed to Xinhua that the kingdom had imported 3,814 motor vehicles from China in 2021.

According to the country's foreign trade statistics, Chinese motor vehicle imports in 2021 totaled 17,955,457 Bahrain dinars, Al Sadoon noted.

Meanwhile, Abas revealed that the Changan showroom in Bahrain sold 480 vehicles in 2020, and the number jumped to 640 last year.

The success of Chinese vehicles in the local market is evidence of Bahrain consumers' understanding of the high quality of cars and their manufacturing process, Ahmed Ghazwan, head of public relations and marketing at Tas'heelat Automotive Company, had told the press last year.

He predicted that Chinese vehicles would dominate the global auto industry with competitive prices and high-quality standards, as China has developed the ability to produce the best vehicles in the world.