OREANDA-NEWS. RnR Market Research Offers Report by Research on Saudi Arabia Autos Report Q4 2016.

BMI View: This quarter we maintain our negative near-term view on the Saudi Arabian autos sector. We continue to target a 26.2% fall in sales over 2016, although certain luxury brands may outperform.

Key Views

- The commercial vehicle segment will underperform over the coming two years, as heavy vehicle demand is dampened by government cutbacks in infrastructure spending.

- We continue to believe that the planned introduction of VAT in 2018 may prompt consumers to buy greater numbers of new passenger cars in 2017 before the tax is implemented.

- Chinese brands Changan and Chery were launched in the country in May 2016, underlining our view that there remain opportunities in the lower priced car segment, despite the current market slowdown.