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GCC Automotive Monthly · Issue 1

GCC Automotive Monthly, October 2026: sales fell by about a quarter; Chinese brands kept gaining

Saudi new-car sales fell 23.5% in the first half and 38.5% in August. Chinese brands hold 31% of new-car stock listed in Saudi Arabia. Eight standing departments, the same every month, opening with a dashboard of the indicators we track.

Skelmore Consulting Group · Data: AutoData, a WAG company · 14 October 2026 · 2 min read

Saudi new-car sales fell 23.5% in the first half of 2026 and 38.5% in August alone, to 44,423 units. UAE sales were down 25.8% in the first half. Every GCC market shrank. Yet Chinese brands hold 31% of new-car stock listed online in Saudi Arabia and 15% in the UAE.

Every GCC market shrank in the first half

Change in new-car sales, first half of 2026 against the first half of 2025

Source: Best Selling Cars Blog; Bahrain from Focus2move; *Kuwait from an industry blog, single source. Compiled by Skelmore.

In every issue

The Monthly is built to be read the same way each month: a front-page dashboard of standing indicators, then eight departments in a fixed order, each opening with its indicator tiles. Issue 1 sets the baseline; from Issue 2 every indicator shows its change on the month.

  1. New-car sales: Saudi sales fell 38.5% in August; every GCC market shrank in the first half.
  2. Fuel, policy and EVs: the third straight monthly fuel price rise in the UAE, the rules moving the market, and electric adoption.
  3. Used-car market: the census of 438,895 cars listed for sale on 13 October 2026, by country.
  4. Price board: the Haval Jolion starts AED 27,000 below a Toyota Corolla Cross; used benchmarks for the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
  5. Chinese Brand Tracker: share of listings and sales by country, and search interest.
  6. Demand and sentiment: the brands most checked through AutoData's VIN service, and what people raise about Chinese cars.
  7. Launches and deals: new brands, plants, retail and investment.
  8. Calendar: what to watch in November.
Download the PDF 0.9 MB · 10 pages
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