Cars & Autos | Saturday 30 June, 2018 11:38 am |

WITH the decree which went into effect on June 24 allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia, car dealers in the Kingdom are witnessing a huge turnout of women buyers.

Most of the car agencies have set up advisory councils and survey units to benefit from this vital and strategic move, in order to collect information and build up plans to deal with this qualitative shift in Saudi society, accompanied by a state of economic recovery in many related sectors such as insurance, maintenance and car accessories.

In this regard, some car dealers opened special car showrooms for women, recruiting female staff to attend to customer enquiries regarding the car’s features and safety aspects.

Even some car sales agents offered car testing for any potential woman client, providing her with a special driving session to excel and be more confident on the roads, according to a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report.

Information and studies conducted by car dealers in the Kingdom indicate the factors that govern the purchase of cars by women, including age group, social status and purchasing power.

The majority of women were careful when choosing the type of vehicle, preferring high safety features such as airbags, vehicle with specific height, in addition to a fuel efficiency.

Sales manager Ghaythan Al-Shamrani said that car agencies in the Kingdom have been working in upgrading their services since the decree was issued in order to provide the best services for potential women clients.

He added that some car agencies allocated special showrooms for women clients and recruited effective female salespersons.

With competition very fierce between dealers, some are offering free car service, free towing and door-to-door delivery of the car, in addition to exempting the driving license fees from the car price.

Ebtihal Al-Sultan, a sales advisor at one of the car agencies, said that the turnout of women at car showrooms was huge since the decree was issued, it has indeed saved a lot of expenses by families.

Hind Al-Shahri, a physician and a client in one of the car showrooms in the capital Riyadh, noted that allowing women to drive is very important as it helped women to be fully self-reliant. For women physicians like herself and other professionals, whose jobs entail moving from one location to the other many times daily, earlier it used to be a strain on their budget and also negatively affected their productivity.

She added that the decree allowing women to drive has made a huge difference for women who can opt to be self-reliant.

Last Sunday June 24, the Kingdom lifted its ban on women driving, a milestone for women who have had to rely on drivers, male relatives, taxis and ride-hailing services to get to work, go shopping and get around.

The move could help boost the Saudi economy by ensuring stronger female participation in the workforce, meaning increased household incomes.