More than one million vehicles were imported to the Kingdom last year, driving significant growth in auto parts demand.
Demand for automotive spare parts in Saudi Arabia has been valued at $3.8bn, according global analysts Frost & Sullivan.
In addition, figures released by the Central Department of Statistics and Information show that more than one million vehicles were imported into the Kingdom during the course of 2013.
The statistics revealed that 1,006,248 cars, commercial vehicles, and trucks – valued at $20bn – were shipped to Saudi Arabia last year.
“The passenger vehicle industry in the KSA is the largest in the Middle East, with 714,183 car sales in 2013,” said Subhash Joshi, senior automotive analyst for the MENA region at Frost & Sullivan.
“The industry is expected to grow annually by more than 5.1% to reach one million passenger car sales by 2019/20, and the high demand for vehicles is expected to continue, bearing in mind a rising population between 15 to 24 years old – 21% of the total population.
“Accordingly, the Kingdom has the largest automotive industry in the Middle East,” he explained.
With 7.1mn passenger vehicles on the Kingdom’s roads, growth in demand for spare parts is expected to rise for the foreseeable future.
The Frost & Sullivan report predicts that the market will grow by 7.7% annually over the next five years to reach $5.5bn.
This is an exciting time for the Saudi automotive aftermarket, and all indications are that the Kingdom is on a path of sustained growth. The key is to develop a sustainable and profitable business model in the country, and to understand the latest trends that are now impacting the growth of the auto aftermarket trade.
According to Prachi Satoskar, head of automotive at German market research agency, GfK, “Saudi Arabia’s love of cars and its fast-growing automobile sector has seen the Kingdom develop into the largest regional market for international car manufacturers and dealers. With new auto manufacturing units and tyre factories on the horizon, Saudi will be the automotive sector hub of the Middle East.”
ifpinfo
15 October
