Sunday, 03 September 2006

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia: Proton cars are expected to hit the streets of Saudi Arabia this month through a newly appointed Riyadh-based distributor, Al-Rashed & Al-Thunayyan Auto Co.

Al-Rashed's general manager Khaled A. Al-Thunayyan said the company would be getting the first shipment of 100 Proton cars, including the Gen 2, Waja Campro and Savvy, by middle of September, Bernama news agency reported Saturday.

"We expect to have between 100 and 120 units of cars monthly and hopefully, the number will grow to between 4,000 and 5,000 units annually," he told Bernama in an interview here.

Proton Malaysia Bhd, the national automaker, has appointed Al-Rashed as exclusive distributor for the Saudi Arabian market.

Al-Rashed, which has offices in Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and seven other cities, is part of a conglomerate with various business interests ranging from engineering, trading, construction, finance, investment, travel, furniture, auto trading, watches and jewelry.

In addition to Proton, Khaled said Al-Rashed has other car brands under its roof, namely Kia, Samsung and Faw, where it holds 70 to 80 percent of the nation's car sales.

Al-Rashed has been appointed by Proton for a five-year period and is under a contractual volume commitment of 1,060 units for the first year, 1,800 units for the second year and 2,400 units for the third year.

Saudi Arabia is the largest automotive market in the Middle East, valued at over SR41 billion with over 275,000 vehicles imported annually.

It is also the world's fifth largest market for auto parts, accessories, service and garage equipment, spending more than $2.3 billion annually.

According to a study, the car market in Saudi Arabia is expanding by 12.7 percent annually due to the strong economy and customer-friendly packages offered by banks.

Asked why Proton was chosen, Khaled said the most important factor was that the Proton cars were made using very high technology.

"We are targeting the cars to cater for our growing younger population," he said.

Khaled, who visited the Proton plant in Tanjong Malim, said he was amazed by the technology used by the national automaker.

Feeling proud for Malaysia as being among the countries to produce its own cars, he said a campaign would be launched to promote Proton cars in the Kingdom.

Khaled said Al-Rashed was first established in 1945 by his father before it diversified into the automotive business in 1994.

He was confident that Proton would have a bright future in the Saudi Arabian market.

"We will look into the possibility of setting up an assembly plant in the Kingdom should the demand increase substantially," he said, adding that Al-Rashed was also distributing cars in other parts of the Mideast, including Jordan.

According to Khaled, one of the competitive advantages that Al-Rashed has is its readily available infrastructure and network of distributors.

"We have a complete infrastructure of showrooms, workshops and parts centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, plus seven other cities," he said.

He added that to ensure the quality of service, Al-Rashed was also providing after-sales services for customers.

Under the agreement between the two companies, Proton will send its engineers and mechanics to Saudi Arabia and at the same time, Al-Rashed will send its staff for training at the Proton plant here.

Khaled also said that through Al-Rashed, car buyers would not face problems in getting financing as the company has its own finance company.

"We usually finance up to 70 percent of the vehicle value," he said.

© The Saudi Gazette 2006