Here, SUV Sales Are Soaring

IsrAmeriPrius · Nov 24, 2005

SUV sales speed up in oil-rich nations

By Jim Krane
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11/21/2005

[Excerpts]

Roughly a third of cars on the road in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf are SUVs. Despite fuel prices, which have risen even in some parts of the land of oil, sales are shooting through the roof.

And buyers here want their 4x4s big, with V-8 engines, seating for seven or more and as much gas-sucking air conditioning as possible.

"Our business is booming at the moment. It's actually affecting our stock levels. It was the busiest summer in my six years here," said Julian White, who heads sales for Dubai-based 4x4 Motors. "This is the first place I've ever sold cars where no one asks about fuel consumption."

Motorists here want bulky four-wheel-drives mainly because they're perceived as safer on roads plagued with some of the world's most reckless drivers.

Dealers and automakers say there is also a prestige factor to owning a flashy SUV, and the Gulf countries - especially the Emirates - have become important markets for the high-priced Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5.

The Arabian Peninsula also offers some of the best off-roading in the world, with empty beaches, boulder-jammed canyons and vast deserts open to anyone with a four-wheel drive.

"We have a family of four, so we need a big car," says Mojgan Bahmanyar, 43, an Iranian architect and mother of two who has lived in Dubai for eight years.

"It's much safer," said Bahmanyar, who drives a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, a model not sold in North America. "It's big, so everybody is scared of it."

Size is key. General Motors expects 2005 Middle East sales of its nine-seat GMC and Chevrolet Suburbans and its lumbering GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe to soar 51 percent over last year, pushed by frantic sales in the biggest regional market - Saudi Arabia.

Nissan says it can't ship enough of its massive Armada 4x4s, with its 5.6-liter V-8, to keep up with sales in the six Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council trade area: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the Emirates.

"There's a waiting list of two months," said Tariq Danish, Nissan's SUV brand manager for the Middle East.

Schmika · Nov 24, 2005

I suspect if gas was virtually free here...this would be true here as well. Can one say "Status symbols"?

LaughingMan · Nov 24, 2005

Originally posted by Schmika@Nov 24 2005, 06:45 PM
I suspect if gas was virtually free here...this would be true here as well.Â Can one say "Status symbols"?

[snapback]161160[/snapback]

Basically it's like what is happining here with big SUVs, but 100 times worse?

Wolfman · Nov 24, 2005

Maybe GM should send some of this languishing inventory down there.

LaughingMan · Nov 24, 2005

Originally posted by Wolfman@Nov 24 2005, 09:39 PM
Maybe GM should send some of this languishing inventory down there.

[snapback]161201[/snapback]

I don't doubt that they're doing that already.

TonyPSchaefer · Nov 24, 2005

Originally posted by Schmika@Nov 24 2005, 05:45 PM
I suspect if gas was virtually free here...this would be true here as well.Â Can one say "Status symbols"?
[snapback]161160[/snapback]

I think we lived been there and done that.

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