Saeed Ali Al-Bassami, vice-president of the car rentals board, said: “The current system followed by car rental agencies is not in harmony with the regulations of the World Trade Organization and the needs of the tourist industry. There is an urgent need for a change in the system.” Another major problem in Saudi Arabia is the fact that many people are renting cars and not returning them on time. They are doing so without fear of prosecution as many lawyers are unwilling to take on minor legal actions.
According to a JCCI car hire blacklist there are over 600,000 subjects who have not made payments and this is causing Saudi car rental companies to lose SR500 million in revenue per year. Al-Bassami added: “The police need to play a more active role in dealing with people who do not return rental cars. They need to arrest them as soon as they receive a report.” JCCI statistics document that the Saudi car rental market is worth SR2.5 billion a year (making it one of the largest in the Middle East) with more than 1,200 rental agencies hiring out something in the region of 166,000 cars.
In other Middle East news the exclusive Mitsubishi dealers for the Kingdom of Bahrain, Zayani Motors, have signed a deal with Avenue Car Rental & Leasing. The deal will see Avenue Car Rental & Leasing receive 45 of Zayani’s latest Mitsubishi models, including Galant, Outlander and Lancer cars, to use for business purposes.