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Read moreAfter the Arab Spring Part 3 – the outlook for car markets in the GCC
At the time, the GCC markets seemed largely unaffected by the Arab Spring, apparently insulated by oil wealth and strong sovereign wealth funds, whose proceeds need only be shared among a small population. But, if you take a closer look there are two ‘blocs’ of states within the GCC measured by income per capita: the rich, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait; and the ‘relatively poor’ – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Those differences have great implications as each country deals with three important – and region-wide- market undercurrents: youth unemployment and renewed emphasis on employment nationalization programmes, accelerating modernization of the transport infrastructure and a changing landscape for personal consumer credit. Each will have an impact on the size and shape of GCC car markets. Moreover, the medium-term, region-wide political effects of the Arab Spring were also overlooked: the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the split within the GCC over Qatar’s position; the struggle to control the entrance to the Red Sea at the Bab Al Mandab, which has underpinned the conflict in Yemen.
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