The key facts
- Plate CC44 sold for 6.72 million dirhams — the auction's largest deal
- RTA's auction raised 65.7 million dirhams in total for 60 plates
- Dubai's private plate market is growing by about 20% a year, with transaction volume of 1.7 billion dirhams over three years
CC44 was the most expensive purchase of the evening
The license plate CC44 was sold at an auction held by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for 6.72 million dirhams (about $1.8 million), The National reports. The buyer was not named. The bidding took place over the weekend at the Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City hotel and was RTA's 121st auction: in total, 60 rare plates went under the hammer — three-, four- and five-digit combinations from the AA, BB, CC, H, U, V, W, X, Y and Z series. Total revenue amounted to 65.7 million dirhams.
Context of record sales
After CC44, the highest prices went to BB18 (6.6 million dirhams), BB80 (5.9 million) and BB117 (1 million). The outlet recalls that the record remains the purchase of plate '7' in Dubai for 55 million dirhams in April 2023 by an Emirati at a One Billion Meals campaign auction; the previous record was set in 2008, when businessman Saeed Al Khouri paid for plate '1' at a charity auction in Abu Dhabi 50 times the 1 million dirham starting price.
A growing market and new mechanisms
According to analysts at the Mazal app, Dubai's private license plate market is growing by about 20% a year, and over the past three years the volume of transactions has reached 1.7 billion dirhams. Mazal will become the first online marketplace in the UAE with escrow: the buyer's funds are held until the transfer of ownership is confirmed, which should make deals safer on a secondary market that has traditionally relied on social media, independent intermediaries and manual processes. The platform complies with RTA rules and provides for buyer verification.
