Saudi car market is worth $20bn

Aston Martin, Cadillac and Maserati won different categories at the eighth edition of Luxury Motor Show (EXCS) held at Jeddah Hilton recently.
Aston Martin model V12 Vantage S, which was rated as the "Best Luxury Sports Car, and Cadillac Escalade rated as the "Best Luxury 4X4 Car" and Maserati Ghibli rated as the "Best Luxury Sedan Car".
Faisal Al-Zabin, undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, inaugurated the event at the Jeddah Hilton in presence of the chairman of the National Committee for Car Dealers in Saudi Arabia, Faisal Abu Abdul Latif and members of the committee.
Other exhibits included Mercedes CLS by Juffali Automotive; Lexus RC-F by Abdul Latif Jameel; BMW i8 by Naghi Motors; and Lamborghini Huracan by Alghassan Motors.
The show visitor shared Maserati in its centennial anniversary celebration, where Fast Auto Technic, the sole dealer of Maserati in Saudi Arabia, designed its stand at the show to mark this distinctive occasion, and unveiled a special edition of the Maserati Gran Turismo model, which was designed to mark this occasion.
The show also witnessed the return of Infiniti cars after a few years of absence.
McLaren showcased its super sports car McLaren 650 S, while Jaguar presented the sports model Jaguar R including the F-Type R Coupe, which is the best sports car ever produced by Jaguar.
In addition to the two special editions of Land Rover (LWB AB and Black Edition), Mohammed Yousuf Naghi Motors, dealer of Jaguar Land Rover in Saudi Arabia, showcased the all-new Range Rover Sport.
McLaren showcased its super sports car McLaren 650 S, while Jaguar presented the sports model Jaguar R including the F-Type R Coupe, which is the best sports car ever produced by Jaguar.
In addition to the two special editions of Land Rover (LWB AB and Black Edition), Mohammed Yousuf Naghi Motors, dealer of Jaguar Land Rover in Saudi Arabia, showcased the all-new Range Rover Sport.
The Saudi market is the largest and strongest market in the region where Saudi Arabia annually imports about 679000 cars worth about SR77 billion ($20.5 billion) with an increase of 9.5 percent per annum, and luxury cars represents more than 18 percent of the total number of imported cars according to the latest statistics, thus making this market one of the world's largest markets in the luxury cars category.
National Commercial Bank (NCB), through its Auto Lease Program, offered a new initiative in the show giving a chance to visitors to test-drive whatever cars they wish to test-drive, under the supervision of experts, from the cars displayed at the show.