The GCC car market, measured
Reports, a monthly briefing and short reads on the Gulf car market, built on AutoData's listings across the six GCC countries and on official prices, VIN lookups and public discussion.
The Chinese Wave
How Chinese brands are reshaping the GCC car market: share, price, warranty and the question everyone asks, whether they hold their value.
Sales fell by about a quarter. Chinese brands kept gaining
A dashboard of the indicators we track, then eight departments in the same order every month: new-car sales; fuel, policy and EVs; the used-car market; the price board; the Chinese Brand Tracker; demand and sentiment; launches and deals; and the calendar.
Short reads
Made in China, whatever the badge
44% of model year 2026 vehicles checked through AutoData were built in China. Only 27% carry a Chinese brand.
14 October 2026 · 2 min read
Do Chinese cars hold their value? So far, yes, except in Saudi Arabia
At three years old, Chinese models keep 74% of their one-year value across the GCC, against 67% for Japanese models.
14 October 2026 · 2 min read
Half the price, twice the warranty
A young Chinese SUV is listed at 51% of the asking price of a Japanese one in the UAE, and Chinese distributors offer up to 7 years of warranty against Toyota's 3.
14 October 2026 · 2 min readSkelmore Consulting Group
Founded in 1996 in Dubai, Skelmore advises on strategy, turnarounds and brand building across the Middle East, with deep roots in automotive. Skelmore Automotive Intelligence is its research series on the GCC car market.
The data
AutoData, a WAG company, collects and maps hundreds of thousands of car listings a day across the six GCC countries. Prices are asking prices. No figure is shown for a group of fewer than 30 listings, and VIN data is only ever pooled across all clients.
Coming next
From the next edition: 28 months of listing history, a GCC used-car price index, time to delisting by model, and value retention awards by segment.