Hyundai and Kia "challenge" Toyota in a key market
Sales growth and a new factory are the Korean brands’ strongest assets.
Hyundai and Kia are getting closer to dethroning Toyota as the best-selling car brand in Saudi Arabia.
Although the strong performance of these two Korean manufacturers in the local market may seem surprising, they are investing heavily in the Kingdom, including the recently launched construction of a new plant.
During the first half of 2025, Hyundai and Kia accounted for 23 percent of the total 412,920 vehicles sold in Saudi Arabia. This placed them right behind Toyota, which still holds the leading position with 28 percent of sales.
The Hyundai Accent sedan is particularly popular in the country, with 19,080 units sold, while Kia’s main hit is the Pegas sedan, which sold 15,530 units during the January–June period.
Chinese automakers are also gaining increasing market share. Together, they achieved 12 percent of total sales during the same period, reports Just Auto.
Saudi Arabia is becoming an increasingly important Middle Eastern market for automakers.
The Kingdom holds a majority stake in Lucid through its sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and has helped the American EV manufacturer open a local factory that will one day have the capacity to produce up to 150,000 EVs annually.
In a similar way, Saudi Arabia has also succeeded in attracting Hyundai Motor Group.
Thanks to a new joint venture between Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Middle East and PIF, which owns 70 percent, a large production facility will open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
This factory will have an annual capacity of 50,000 units and will produce both electric vehicles and internal combustion engine cars.
Hyundai has not yet specified which models will be manufactured at the new plant, nor whether it will also produce cars from the Kia and Genesis brands.
