Mohamed Jaidah, Group Executive Director, Jaidah Group

Qatar’s evolving automotive and mobility sector

Global Platform

In this Global Platform video, Mohamed Jaidah, Group Executive Director, Jaidah Group, discusses the progress made within Qatar's automotive and mobility sector. The country has undergone a significant transformation since it hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and was in a unique position to think ahead for the future as it prepared for the global sporting event. And, as Jaidah highlights, the next decade will continue to be just as transformational for Qatar, with the country now equipped with all the tools to establish itself as a major international centre in the region.

The automotive market has been in a roller coaster where it has reached its peak, its bottom, and now it's going back up quite rapidly to new heights. More and more people are looking at car as really a medium mean of transport, more than a luxury status. So there is a bigger interest in cost-effective cars, which wasn't the case in the past. You see an approach where Asian manufacturers big growth of the Chinese manufacturers over the past 24 months, gaining a huge market share.

We're going into the 30% market share for the Chinese manufacturers. We've seen people moving from the need of owning the assets to really saying, this is really a tool to take me from point A to point B. From a business-to-business perspective, companies don't want to own it and put it on their books. They'd rather just have it, a rental and leasing.

From a business-to-consumer perspective, I want to be free of all the headaches. Qatar has other advantages that makes it more and more attractive preferred hub due to the fact that we've got the energy sector that brings the cost down from an energy perspective. it allows us to be very close, within a three and a half to four hours radius. it allows us to be very close within a three and a half to four hours radius.

You really touch a huge population between Central Asia, East Africa and Europe. So the transformation has been quite tremendous over the past 10 years. I believe that the evolution really needs to be government led. There is a very important aspect that is linked to data, to cyberattacks, to many things that were never thought of before.

There is a very important part that is needed to be played by the government in order to make sure that all of that works seamlessly and within the framework of the law. The innovation part is really coming from our customers. It's the customer's needs that come into play. It's not only about having that information, it's what you do with that information.

If it is packaged in the right way, if we can give the right information in the right framework, that allows the customer to really understand what it really means, then it becomes useful. The country has evolved tremendously after gaining the right to host the World Cup and we've seen Qatar transform. The benefit of being in such a situation is that you can think ahead for the decades to come as to how you want to see the city and the country as a whole group. Therefore, you see that with the road network that has been built, and obviously after that you've had the real network that has come with the metro, the airports, Hamad International Airport, that is a world class airport that has won many awards.

And then you've got also the Hamad Ports, which receives all the cargo and all the ships and has become also a hub. I think that the next decade to come is going to be a very interesting, very transformational decade ahead of us. Qatar has all the tools to present itself as a great regional and international hub. Mobility is always going to be there.

The role of the distributors and the dealers is always going to be a fundamental key point in the relationship between the brand and the consumer.

Watch/Listen Next

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Licence or Product Purchase Required

Mohamed Jaidah, Group Executive Director, Jaidah Group

In Qatar

In Industry

Latest

“High-Level Discussions are Under Way to Identify How We Can Restructure Funding For Health Care Services”

Related Content