Saudi Arabia Vehicle Import Analysis 2024

Verify the accuracy of a publicly-circulated infographic that claimed Chinese cars topped Saudi imports in 2024.
Base of truth: $\text{General Authority for Statistics (GaStat)}$ detailed customs data delivered by the Zakat, Tax & Customs Authority (ZATCA).
Focus year: $2024$ (Jan.–Dec., Gregorian).
Key commodity universe: “Vehicles” Chapter of the Harmonised System ( $HS87$ ) plus deep dive on “Passenger Cars” ( $HS8703$ ).

Do the charted numbers represent the current reality in the Kingdom?
Has China actually overtaken Japan as the largest vehicle source?
Are private-use cars really shipped from India and Indonesia?
Do well-known brands always arrive from their country of origin, or from third-country production hubs?

Aggregate customs value: $\approx 106.8\,\text{billion SAR}$ (↑ $5\%$ YoY vs. $2023$ ).
Aggregate unit count (all HS87 headings combined): $\approx 9.56\,\text{million units}$ .
Asian exporters dominate: $75\%$ of value.
Top-10 suppliers & values (all vehicles, HS2 level):
- $22.1\,\text{bn}$ – China
- $21.6\,\text{bn}$ – Japan
- $9.76\,\text{bn}$ – USA
- $8.28\,\text{bn}$ – South Korea
- $7.34\,\text{bn}$ – Thailand
- $6.99\,\text{bn}$ – India
- $6.36\,\text{bn}$ – Germany
- $3.92\,\text{bn}$ – Indonesia
- $3.81\,\text{bn}$ – Canada
- $3.62\,\text{bn}$ – United Kingdom
Visual takeaway: China + Japan alone supply >43\,\text{bn SAR} ⇒ $\frac{43}{106.8} \times 100 \approx 40\%$ of total HS87 value.

Level	Digits	Meaning	Example
HS2	2	Broad chapter	87 = \text{All road vehicles & parts}
HS4	4	Functional family	$8703 = \text{Passenger motor cars}$
HS5	5	Saudi analytical regrouping	$87032 = \text{Gasoline cars}$
HS6	6	Globally harmonised specifics	870323 = \text{1500–3000 cm^3 gasoline car}
HS8+	8–12	National sub-splits	$87032311 = \text{Model-year flag, 4×4, etc. (KSA)}$

Rank	Country	Value (bn SAR)	Share	Avg. Unit Price (SAR)	Units
1	Japan	$18.0$	$27\%$	$187{,}715$	$95{,}919$
2	China	$13.3$	$20\%$	$226{,}500$	$58{,}945$
3	USA	$6.6$	$10\%$	$43{,}431$	$153{,}466$
4	India	$6.3$	$9\%$	$142{,}378$	$44{,}161$
5	South Korea	$6.1$	$9\%$	$84{,}648$	$71{,}900$
6	Thailand	$6.1$	$9\%$	$94{,}952$	$63{,}765$
7	Indonesia	$3.8$	$6\%$	$57{,}344$	$67{,}316$
8	Germany	$3.6$	$5\%$	$14{,}591$	$253{,}047$
9	United Kingdom	$2.3$	$3\%$	$4{,}705$	$507{,}307$
10	Slovakia	$1.3$	$2\%$	$8{,}100$	$169{,}933$

Japan still leads by value ( $27\%$ ), despite China leading by volume ( $26\%$ share of units).
Much of the “Chinese” volume is global brands (e.g., BMW, Tesla) that merely assemble in China.

Combined car-import value: $14.8\%$ of top-10 HS8703 spend.
India is #3 source by units; lowest mean CIF price among top-10.
Indonesia ships more cars to KSA than the USA (units), with a mean price $14\%$ higher than China and $7\%$ below Korea.

Brand (India)	Units	Dominant Models	CIF Value (SAR mn)
ISUZU	$71{,}889$	D-Max	$2{,}973$
HYUNDAI	$65{,}922$	Accent ( $73\%$ ), Grand i10 ( $18\%$ )	$5{,}400$ *
SUZUKI	$55{,}879$	Dzire, Baleno	$2{,}623$
NISSAN	$46{,}944$	Sunny ( $99\%$ )	$541$
(*value rounded from text “5.4 billion”.)

Brand (Indonesia)	Units	Dominant Models	CIF Value (SAR mn)
TOYOTA	$58{,}070$	Fortuner ( $37\%$ ), Veloz ( $32\%$ )	$14{,}030$
HYUNDAI	$33{,}849$	Creta ( $74\%$ ), Stargazer ( $26\%$ )	$3,800$
SUZUKI	$45$	Carry	–

Indonesian plant (Bekasi, West Java) began $2021$ ; organised with LG for local EV battery JV (Karawang).
Exports shipped from $Tanjung Priok$ to Jeddah & Dammam.
Indian plant (Sriperumbudur, est. $1998$ ) – Hyundai’s first fully integrated site outside Korea; announced $20{,}000\,\text{Cr INR}$ (≈ $2.4\,\text{bn USD}$ ) investment to lift EV capacity to >850{,}000 units p.a.
Illustrates brands’ strategy to supply KSA from cost-efficient regional hubs, not just HQ country.

BMW runs a spider-web network; Saudi arrivals (2024 value shares):
- $22\%$ – Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA
- $3\%$ – San Luis Potosí, Mexico
- $2\%$ – Rosslyn, South Africa
- $1\%$ each – Germany, UK, Austria, China (Shenyang), Korea, Canada.
CKD/contract assembly also exists in Egypt, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. ⇒ country-of-origin ≠ country-of-production.

Claim	Data Reality	Verdict
“HS87 total = car imports”	HS87 includes trucks, parts, equipment	False – overstates cars by $\approx 30\%$
“China #1 by car value”	Japan $18.0$ bn vs China $13.3$ bn	False for value; true for unit count
“No cars come from India/Indonesia”	$\approx 14.8\%$ of HS8703 value from both	False
“Brands import only from origin country”	BMW, Hyundai, Toyota source from 10+ sites	False

Communicate corrected figures to media outlet; request reissue with HS8703-specific values.
Engage GaStat for granular data at HS6/HS8 to bolster future public releases.
Monitor Asian production hubs (India, Indonesia, Thailand, China) as competitive sourcing bases, especially for low-priced gasoline cars and emerging EVs.
Track EV-specific plant investments (Hyundai Indonesia, BYD China, BMW Shenyang) to anticipate future fuel-mix shifts.
Policy: consider differentiated tariffs or incentives aligned with localisation or emissions goals given $99\%$ gasoline share.

Total vehicle import value $V_{87} = 106.8\,\text{bn SAR}$ .
Car share $S<em>{car} = 0.70 \Rightarrow V</em>{8703} \approx 74.8\,\text{bn SAR}$ .
Asian share $= 75\% \Rightarrow 0.75 \times 106.8 = 80.1\,\text{bn SAR}$ .
Gasoline car dominance $G = 99\% \Rightarrow V_{gasoline} \approx 0.99 \times 74.8 = 74.1\,\text{bn SAR}$ .

End of detailed study notes suitable for exam review.