New headlamps, tail lamps and fog lamps from Dubai for export

The family is headlamp assemblies, tail lamps, fog lamps and the bulbs that go in them. UAE customs data count vehicle lighting and signalling under heading 8512, and for 2023 the UAE reported USD 121.5 million of exports, of which USD 121.4 million were re-exports, against USD 204.2 million of imports. The lamps leaving Dubai are almost all goods that arrived from elsewhere, so the maker named on the box matters more than the name of the shop.

Our own enquiries point the same way. Of 97 clear export enquiries from July to 2 November 2026, 15 asked for lighting, 7 of them from the Gulf, Iraq and the Levant and 3 from the Caucasus. Iraqi trader lists included BMW and Mercedes headlights. In September's request log, 2 of 24 export-flagged requests were for headlamps. A Ghanaian trade article also names headlamps and bulbs among the fast movers in a mixed container, which earns them a place on a basket.

A low beam is not symmetrical. Wikipedia's article on headlamps says it directs light downward and toward the right in right-traffic countries, or toward the left in left-traffic ones, and describes the European low beam as having an asymmetric cut-off. Headlamps for left traffic dip to the left and those for right traffic to the right. The shape is what keeps the beam out of oncoming drivers' eyes.

The consequence is practical. Fit a lamp made for a left-hand-drive car in right-hand traffic to a right-hand-drive car in left-hand traffic and its beam dips toward the wrong side and shines at oncoming drivers; our research notes call this a roadworthiness issue. The same article says travellers in Europe must adjust their headlamps temporarily, with opaque decals or prismatic lenses, that these fixes reduce safety performance, and that some countries require correctly configured headlamps for long-term use.

That is why we do not quote a left-hand-drive lamp for a right-hand-drive market. A buyer in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi or South Africa, where traffic keeps left, is quoted a lamp with the right-hand-drive pattern, identified by part number. The article notes that some projector-type lamps can switch between left and right beams with a movable element, but we assume that for no model; the part number settles it.

A genuine lamp comes in the carmaker's box with the carmaker's part number. An OE-brand lamp comes from a firm that supplies the carmaker and is sold under that firm's own name. Koito, Stanley, Hella and Valeo are such makers. Wikipedia describes lighting as Stanley Electric's core business and names Honda and Nissan as its main customers, in an undated list. It says Hella supplies lighting to vehicle makers and parts to independent workshops, and that Valeo supplies automakers and the aftermarket.

Quality aftermarket lamps are replacement lamps sold under their maker's own name. Depo and TYC, both Taiwanese, are the names the Dubai trade table puts in this grade. Trade-press profiles seen in a search summary describe Depo as a listed lamp maker that has mostly served replacement markets, and TYC, based in Tainan, as making both replacement and original-equipment lamps. Gulf sellers sometimes say Taiwan for a mid-grade lamp, but no written source defines the word, so our quote names the brand.

We have measured no Dubai price ladder for lamps. The only ladders we have taken are for front brake pads and a water pump, and lamps behave differently from either, so this page quotes no lamp prices. Each quote lists the same part number in the grades available, with the brand named, and the gap between them is for the buyer to judge line by line.

A model name does not fix the lamp. Toyota's description of the eighth-generation Hilux lists LED headlamps among its front-end features, but the badge alone tells you little: trim, year and market decide which lamp a given truck carries. Send the VIN and a photograph of the back of the old lamp, where the maker's name and part number are usually moulded or stickered, and a person matches the lamp to the car.

Georgia and Azerbaijan need extra care. Many cars in Georgia arrived from the United States, and a GCC-spec lamp is not guaranteed to match a US-spec car, because side markers and lamp approvals can differ. Lighting also sits under heading 8512, which the US export controls on Russia list, so buyers in both countries are screened and asked for an end-use statement. We decline any order meant for onward shipment beyond Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Rules on lamps are lighter than rules on pads, but they are not absent. Saudi Arabia's SASO regulation for auto spare parts names lamps among its categories, with certificates held by the Saudi importer through SABER. Kenya taxes lamps like most vehicle parts. The table sets out what we found for each market; none of it replaces your importer's or clearing agent's reading of the rule on the day.

A lamp is a lens, a reflector and a housing in one fragile piece, and a breakage costs the lamp and the wait for another. Each lamp stays in its own retail box, the boxes go into an outer carton with filler on every side, and nothing is stacked on a lens. Mark the carton fragile and this way up. Tail lamps and fog lamps travel better than full headlamp assemblies, which are bulky for their weight.

Carriers charge for the greater of weight and volume. Under DHL's 2026 UAE rate guide a piece is billed on length, width and height in centimetres multiplied and divided by 5,000 where that beats its weight, so a padded lamp carton pays for its size, and the guide adds AED 87 for a piece that is not in a corrugated box. Photograph each carton's label and the part-number sticker on every lamp before sealing, and keep the pictures until the goods are cleared, because they decide a damage claim.

Ask your agent whether the consignment is insured, and on what terms, before collection. Kenya, for one, has required importers to buy marine cargo insurance from a Kenyan-licensed insurer since 1 July 2026, according to The Star. Sea groupage handles more knocks than air, so pack for the rougher mode when in doubt.

Send the VIN, the lamp you need and its side, plus the drive side of your market. Photograph the back of the old lamp and its connector. Add the trim and year, and say whether bulbs belong on the list or lamp bodies only. A list of six or more parts is the minimum, and you can mix lamps with other lines such as radiators or service parts if you want one quote for the lot.

A person replies on WhatsApp with each lamp by grade and brand, and says which lines cannot be had in the quantity you want. How to pay is confirmed in that chat. Do not accept a lamp described only as LHD or GCC: ask the quote to state the beam pattern, in words or by part number, for your side of the road.