By Jassim Alghamdi
JEDDAH - The National Committee for Car Agents (NCCA) denied Sunday report that car prices will drop by 40 percent in the next two months because of the global financial crisis.
In a press conference attended by representatives of car dealers in the Kingdom at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the group said that a report published in the Al-Madina Arabic newspaper that automakers in the US wanted to share their losses to agents in Saudi Arabia by exporting more cars of the same model with lower prices was not accurate.
“The report is not accurate and the reporter referred to an anonymous agent.” said Faisal Abu Shosha, president of NCCA, “I don’t believe that he really talked to anyone. I don’t think that any responsible agent would state something that would harm his business. That’s one thing; the other thing is that people in Saudi Arabia only use cars for transporting. We don’t have train system or subways. Cars are still the main way for people to transport so there is no reason for the prices to decrease.”
The author of the report claimed that he attended a negotiation between the agent and the factory about the possibility of selling the imported cars in the next two months at lower prices although they have existing stocks of the same model.
Representatives of Suzuki, Ford, Mazda, Honda, Nissan and Toyota all denied the report.
“The reporter said that he also talked to salesmen from several agencies and they predicted a decrease,” said Emad Abullah Abdraboh, NCCA vice president. “This is not true, because the salesman don’t know these details. Prices in showrooms are even increasing by 5 to 15 percent.”
“It’s true that Ford is facing real crisis but that doesn’t mean any change in the prices of cars in Saudi Arabia,” said Nabeel Al-Hosain, general director of Al-Jazirah Vehicles Agency Company amd member of NCCA. “If the factory shuts down a production line it aims to lower the cost of manpower but not the price the product.” – SG __