The Motor Industry sector is dominated by locally owned companies who are in the main family controlled. Many are now large corporations with world wide interests but their roots go back a generation or two when the region was dominated by family trading enterprises

The companies who seek to employ UK expats in the Automotive Sector will be the only Country Importer and Distributors for their particular franchise giving them a solus status for their sales and repair. Although the region is of great importance to the world economy, the populations are small, hence the individual car markets are very modest by UK standards. Actual market data is difficult to obtain. However the sole franchise status of these vehicle distributors linked to the domination of certain brands, particularly the Japanese, leads to high sales volume being achieved. It is not uncommon for an individual business to sell well in excess of 20,000 units pa. Export across borders is not uncommon. Hence the size of many single site locations is often on a quite different scale to anything found in the UK.

New Vehicle Sales - Because of the dealers importer status margins are immediately far more generous than in the UK. With demand exceeding supply for the last 10 years at least new vehicle sales have been highly profitable.

Used Vehicles – Have as a result much less attraction as a profit generator and this will be a major surprise to UK motor trade management. Historic reasons such as the poor maintenance of vehicles, social reasons, such as the lack of a middle earning class who might buy used are gradually being eroded and moving forward used cars will be of increasing importance. However the lack of pricing data, and the difficulty in finding suitable stock, linked to some company owners not wishing to enter this area of the market may give it limitations.

Service, Parts and Bodyshops – These as in the UK Motor Industry are crucial areas for the success of the individual retailers/distributors. It is the size of these operations which will amaze UK managers. Service departments regularly have more than 100 bays and many exceed 200 – we have heard that 600+ bay departments are being planned. The most modern facilities will be as sophisticated as any in Europe or North America – Bodyshops exist within most operations and despite the climate conditions (dust, sand, high humidity) can now through the adoption of the latest technology turn out work that would rival UK practice. Parts departments as a result of the sole importer status are on a similarly large scale. Being the only supplier inventories need to satisfy regional demand and are by any UK comparison very high. However computerisation and improved supply from the OEM’s has resulted in lower stock levels but annual sales of only 2 - 3 x stock are quite normal.

Additional areas such as Fast Fit, Tyres, Smart Repairs and Car/Van Rental are increasingly common as the motor industry in the Middle East seeks to diversify in order to seek new profit opportunities.