Saudi Arabia July 2020: MG (+97.4%), Geely (+57.5%), Ford (+51.1%) ignore market back in hell (-39%)

Chinese MG, launched in Saudi Arabia in 2015, is up to #6 with 6.2% share in July.

The Covid-19 crisis has put an end to an incredible run for the Saudi new car market, with Q2 2020 marking the first quarterly decline since 2018 at -11.3% to 110.041 units. This follows five consecutive quarters of double-digit gains, as sales get boosted by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of women at the wheel since the ban on Saudi women driving was lifted in June 2018. Indeed Q1 2019 (+14.3%), Q2 2019 (+27.6%), Q3 2019 (+37.8%), Q4 2019 (+41%) and Q1 2020 (+28.6%) all showed euphoric results Far from linear, Q2 monthly sales show wild changes, with April imploding -74% to 10.431 vs. 40.154 in April 2019, May off – 47.2% to 24.440 vs. 46.283 but June soaring by a surreal +99.6% to 75.170 vs. 37.664 in June 2019 as pent-up demand and aggressive deals brought customers back into dealerships en masse. As a result H1 2020 volumes were up 5.9% to 247.754 units, making Saudi Arabia one of only a handful of global markets in this position alongside Turkey and South Korea. However a second wave of Covid-19 infections in June-July coupled with the return of partial lockdowns and the petering out of pent-up demand sees July sales crash again at -39% to 25.543 units vs. 41.856, meaning the YTD tally is now on the edge of the cliff at a tiny +0.3% and 273.302 units.

Geely sales soar 57.5% in a market down -39%. The Coolray is #23. Picture almuraba.net

In this chaotic context, Toyota (-54.8%) manages to hold onto the July top spot despite a ghastly drop but sees its share thaw to 23.3% vs. 28.4% so far this year. Hyundai (-57.4%) endures a similar drop to 14.9% share vs. 18.3% whereas just below Nissan (+15.5%) and Chevrolet (+18.9%) buck the negative trend to improve to 7.8% and 7.4% respectively, well above their YTD levels. Below Mazda (-62.6%) in complete freefall at #5, the hero of the month is Chinese carmaker MG (+97.4%) almost doubling its sales year-on-year to soar to 6th place overall with 6.2% share vs. #10 and 3% in 2020 (+58.2%). Fellow Chinese Changan (-1.4%) resists well in July at #9 and 4.8% share but is a lot more impressive YTD at +110.9% and #8, above MG. Ford (+51.1%) closes the Top 10 in spectacular fashion but remains in negative YTD (-6.9%). Just outside the Top 10, Geely (+57.5%) and Dodge (+30.2%) stun while further down Peugeot (+226.7%), Lincoln (+166.7%), Infiniti (+60%), Land Rover (+57.5%), Volvo (+40%) and Renault (+27.7%) all score spectacular upticks.

The Toyota Hilux is #1 in Saudi Arabia in July. Picture almuraba.netThe Nissan Sunny is up 59.9% to #4.

The models ranking is a lot more volatile now that overall volumes are limited again, and crowns the Toyota Hilux (-23.3%) above the Hyundai Elantra (-63%), Toyota Yaris (-38.5%) and the Nissan Sunny (+59.9%) fully benefiting from the launch of a new generation and the hard discounting of the outgoing model. The year-to-date order is a lot different however, with the Toyota Camry, down to #21 this month, in pole position (-3.4%) ahead of the Hyundai Elantra (-13.3%), Accent (-30.8%) and Toyota Hilux (+8%). The Chevrolet Tahoe impresses both in July (+40.4%) and year-to-date (+26.1%) and ranks inside the Top 10 both times vs. #18 in 2019. The Chevrolet Spark (+63.3%) also evolves at markedly higher levels than last year. There’s an avalanche of recent launches in the Saudi charts this month, starting with the MG5 (#12) missing a Top 10 finish for less than 50 sales and distancing the Mazda CX-30 (#17), Kia Seltos (#22), Geely Coolray (#23), Kia Pegas (#28), Changan CS85 (#29), Alsvin (#32), MG RX8 (#37) and HS (#45). Notice also the Geely Azkarra aka Boyue (#71) and Land Rover Defender (#104) gearing up further down.

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Previous post: Saudi Arabia Q1 2020: Women lift market up 28.6%, Changan, Renault, MG impress, Hyundai Elantra #1

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Full July 2020 Top 35 All-brands and Top 100 models below.