During the Covid-19 period, the Arab Gulf countries’ automotive markets were stagnant.
Saudi Arabia’s import of cars in 2021 grew marginally compared to 2020.
Moreover, young people in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are choosing to acquire used automobiles because of the high cost of new cars, mainly owing to the rise in fuel prices and the rise in the cost of manufacturing and transportation.
These and other trends are finally driving automobile sales in the region.
Saudi vehicles import
According to the Saudi Arabia’s Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authorities, imports of cars grew from 544,000 in 2020 to over 546,000 in 2021.
Japan, America, South Korea, Thailand, Germany, China, India, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Italy, Turkey, and France are the major exporting countries.
Importing vehicles into the kingdom is permitted as long as the model year is less than five years old for small cars, buses, and light transport vehicles weighing “3.5 tons or less,” and not more than 10 years old for heavy trucks weighing “3.5 tons or more,” except for the current year.
Car prices have risen steadily over the last several years, making it difficult for some people to afford a new vehicle.
Therefore, secondhand cars are also becoming more popular in the kingdom, where many vehicles haven’t been driven for a long time or are in excellent condition.
Emiratis embrace new trend
In research, CARS24, an online pre-owned car trading platform in the UAE, found that 55 percent of consumers aged 18-34 were interested in purchasing these cars.
CARS24 commissioned YouGov, a global market research and opinion polling firm, to conduct the survey.
Around 28 percent of those polled said they would prefer to buy a used car online.
In comparison, 43 percent said they would prefer to buy from a dealership, 19 percent from an individual seller, and 10 percent said they had no preference for any purchase methods.
The remaining 10 percent indicated they have no preference at all.
According to the research, 30 percent of UAE nationals, 34 percent of Arab residents, 27 percent of Asian residents, and 22 percent of Western residents prefer to buy pre-owned automobiles online.
By comparison, the share of Arab inhabitants who acquire these vehicles from car agencies — 32 percent — has climbed by 2 percentage points.
EVs gain popularity
According to official figures, more than 5,100 electric vehicles (EVs) are already in Dubai, demonstrating the city’s move toward sustainable green mobility.
According to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), over 8,800 megawatt-hours of electricity have been provided to charge electric vehicles in Dubai since 2015.
According to the authorities, customers saved an estimated 73 percent on their gasoline bills due to the 58 million kilometers they drove in electric vehicles.
Since 2015, the number of EVs registered in Dubai has climbed from 71 on December 31, 2015, to 5,107 on January 31, 2022.
Customer satisfaction with the “Green Charger” service reached 97 percent in 2021, while customer satisfaction with the service’s quality climbed to 93 percent.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia entered the list of the top 50 countries in the EV sector worldwide for the first time in 2021, according to the latest industrial index issued by Alex Partners.
Saudi Arabia ranked 49 in the car electrification index for the fourth quarter of 2021.