Argaam Weekend | Chinese Cars in Saudi: The Test of the Second Buyer

Chinese Cars in Saudi: The Test of the Second Buyer

24^thOctober 2026

● The Car Is Worth Less Than the Loan: The Blind Spot in Saudi Used-Car Finance

Topics of the Week

The Car Is Worth Less Than the Loan: The Blind Spot in Saudi Used-Car Finance

Every conversation about risk in Saudi car finance ends at the same question: how many borrowers will stop paying? A new Argaam Intelligence paper argues this is only the easier half of the problem. The harder question is what a lender actually loses when a borrower stops paying — and that depends on something nobody publishes: what the car is worth by then.

Q1 2026 and the Middle Layer: A Structural Audit of Saudi Auto Finance

Saudi Arabia's new car market contracted -24.1% y/y in Q1 2026, with 167,553 units sold. In March alone, it fell -34.7% - a sharp decline that’s comparable in scale to the steepest monthly drops witnessed during COVID 19 in 2020. This followed full-year 2025 sales of 857,247 units — a record high. The reversal in Q1 2026 was abrupt and not gradual.

Saudi Evs

Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 stands great potential to make electric vehicles appealing to its citizens and local customers given the fact that the electricity tariff is already at record-low prices of around 6 cents kilowatt per hour, while the kingdom’s renewable energy sector would produce electricity from wind and solar, instead of plants burning oil and gas, to relieve the pressure on the national grid.

The shadow economy and hidden past of SUVs in the Middle East

In many bustling cities across the Middle East, the sleek SUVs and familiar sedans cruising the streets might not be what they seem. Behind the polished exteriors and seemingly legitimate paperwork lies a chilling possibility: some of these vehicles could have a darker, hidden past.