Future of mobility: Rise in private vehicle demand
- Date: 23-Sep-2020
- Source: Wamda
- Sector:Transport
- Country:Saudi Arabia
Future of mobility: Rise in private vehicle demand
This is the fourth part in a series of features examining the impact of Covid-19 on the region's transport and mobility startups
For Saudi Arabia-based automotive marketplace Syarah, June 2020 was a fantastic month. Despite the pandemic, the company closed a bridge round and broke all of its previous sales records as Saudis rushed to buy new cars before the government increased its VAT rate from 5 per cent to 15 per cent.
"There has been a sharp increase in car buying activity before new value-added (VAT) taxes came into effect on 1 July and people wanted to purchase their cars before they can be subject to these taxes,“ says Omar Tahboub, deputy chief executive officer at Syarah.
This sudden increase in demand, while short-lived, was a boon for the automotive industry in Saudi Arabia.