Distinctive CC44 number plate fetches Dh6.72 million at lucrative Dubai auction

Show caption: The CC44 number plate attracted the biggest bid of the night…

Premium plate helps drive more than Dh65 million in sales

The National

October 27, 2026

A motoring enthusiast is set to stand out in traffic after snapping up a distinctive CC44 vehicle number plate for Dh6.7 million ($1.8 million) at a lucrative auction in Dubai.

The major sale to the unnamed bidder proved to be the biggest of the night, as 60 rare number plates went under the hammer at an event held by the Roads and Transport Authority at Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City at the weekend.

The auction amassed sales of Dh65.7 million, with CC44 leading the way, followed closely by BB18, which fetched Dh6.6 million, BB80, which sold for Dh5.9 million, and BB117, which went for Dh1 million.

The open auction – the 121st organised by the RTA – featured three, four and five-digit combinations across the AA, BB, CC, H, U, V, W, X, Y and Z codes.

Record bids

The success of the event served to highlight the enduring appeal of unique number plates for drivers keen to stand out from the crowd.

Bidders have shown they are prepared to dig deep to secure premium plates, with in-demand numbers selling for record prices. In April 2023, an Emirati bidder who paid a record Dh55 million for Dubai's number 7 plate at an auction for the One Billion Meals campaign.

That broke a record set in 2008, when businessman Saeed Al Khouri paid 50 times the opening Dh1 million bid for the coveted number 1 plate at a charity auction in Abu Dhabi.

Growing demand

Dubai's expanding vehicle premium market is poised to welcome the UAE's first escrow-backed online marketplace. The Mazal app will hold buyers’ funds until ownership transfer is confirmed, providing security to a second-hand market that has traditionally relied on social media, independent brokers and manual processes.

The platform aligns with RTA regulations, offering a secure marketplace with verified buyers and increasing confidence in high-value auctions.

Dubai’s private number plate market is growing by about 20 per cent a year, with single-digit and special-number plates commanding high values. In the past three years, Dubai’s status-symbol vehicle plate market has seen Dh1.7 billion in transactions, Mazal app data analysts have said. Mazal will manage these high-value transactions.

Updated:

October 27, 2026, 6:14 AM