Saudi Arabia 1992-1993: Toyota Cressida reclaims top spot

The Toyota Cressida is the most popular car in Saudi Arabia both in 1992 and 1993.

The Saudi new light vehicle market is stable in 1992 at -0.2% year-on-year to 175,789 units. Once again Toyota (-9.7%) sees its share drop from 40.4% last year to 36.5%. Nissan (-10%) is also in difficulty and loses almost two percentage points of share at 16.7%. In contrast Mitsubishi (+31.5%) overtakes GMC (+7.5%) to #3. Chevrolet (-9.1%) is weak and distances Isuzu (+18.4%) and Honda (+44.2%), both in great shape. 

In the models ranking, the Toyota Cressida (+2.3%) reclaims the lead off a freefalling Toyota Hilux (-28.2%) with the Nissan Datsun (+0.2%) staying at #3. The GMC Suburban (+17.6%) is up a further three spots to #4 overall, dislodging the Toyota Land Cruiser 100 (-20.6%), Corolla (+2.8%) and Chevrolet Caprice (-9%). The Mitsubishi Lander Cedia lands directly at #9 for its first appearance in the Saudi charts while the Toyota Camry arrives at #12.

In 1993, Saudi sales are hit hard at -38% to just 108,965 units. Toyota (-45%) continues to reduce its footprint to 32.4% share as does Nissan (-52.7%) to 12.8%. GMC (-7.9%) resists very well and is back to #3 brand above Chevrolet (-14.1%) also in solid shape in context. Mitsubishi (-40.2%) is back down to #5 with Isuzu (-48.3%) faring as bad. Hyundai (-17.2%), Ford (-19.7%) and Mazda (-22.6%) resist better than the market in the remainder of the Top 10.

Model-wise, the Toyota Cressida (-58.1%) repeats at #1 despite a devastating drop, and sees its share drop from 13% in 1992 to 8.8% now. It is followed closely by the Toyota Hilux (-47.3%), with the Nissan Datsun (-56.1%) a notch below. The GMC Suburban (-6.7%) manages to stay at #4 while the Chevrolet Caprice (-9.3%) is up two spots to #5. The Toyota Camry (+14.3%) is up four ranks to #8 for its first full year in market.

Previous year: Saudi Arabia Full Year 1991: Toyota Hilux takes charge, GMC #3 brand

Two years ago: Saudi Arabia Full Year 1990: Toyota Cressida and Nissan Datsun best-sellers

Full Year 1992 and 1993 Top 49 All brands and Top 198 All models below.