Saudi Arabia First Half 2019: Spectacular recovery linked to new female drivers (+22.5%) lifts Hyundai, Mitsubishi, MG, Suzuki

The Hyundai Kona is the best-selling new car in Saudi Arabia over the period.

As we described at length in our latest Saudi Arabia update, the arrival of women on the Saudi new car market has kicked sales into gear after years of deep decline. H1 2019 volumes are up a stunning 22.5% year-on-year to 233.898, yet Toyota (-0.9%) isn’t reaping any benefits and sees its market share plummet from 31.1% to 25.2%, now under direct threat from Hyundai (+93.5%) up from 15% to 23.7% in the space of a year. Mazda (+22.2%) brilliantly naps the last podium spot off Nissan (-0.8%), while MG (+143%), Mitsubishi (+59.9%), Lexus (+35.6%) and Kia (+26.3%) also outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 11. Changan lands with a splash directly in 12th place just as Suzuki (+159.9%), Peugeot (+103.6%), Jeep (+87.6%) and Geely (+78.4%) also post spectacular gains and BMW returns at #17 as well as Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche all inside the Top 30.

The arrival of Saudi female buyers on the market has had a spectacular effect.

The models order is also turned on its head, with the Hyundai Accent (+114%) and Elantra (+107.7%) both up 3 spots on H1 2018 to take control of the charts ahead of the Toyota Camry (+15.5%), Hyundai Sonata (+22.7%) and Toyota Hilux (-21.6%). The Kia Cerato (+183.9%), Hyundai Tucson (+178.3%), Mitsubishi Attrage (+97.3%), Mazda CX-9 (+50.1%) and Nissan Sunny (+28.6%) also make themselves noticed in the Top 20. We welcome no less than 7 new nameplates in the Top 75: the Hyundai Kona (#22), Changan CS75 (#50), MG6 (#53), Toyota Ace (#54), Changan Eado (#56), Changan CS95 (#60) and CS35 (#72).

January 2005 – June 2019 All-Makes and All-Models monthly/annual data also available for Saudi Arabia. Contact us here for more details

Previous month: Saudi Arabia January-May 2019: Women drive market rebound (+18.9%), Hyundai (+85.6%) places Accent at #1 and 3 models in Top 4

One year ago: Saudi Arabia First Half 2018: Market sinks -25%, women a glimmer of hope

Full H1 2019 Top 40 All-brands and Top 60 models vs. Full H1 2018 figures below.