They say the move is aimed at protecting their interests in the wake of the chaotic situation prevailing in the automobile market, especially the secondhand car sales market, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily reported.
The showroom owners underscored the significance of reorganizing Jeddah’s automobile sales market, which holds around 700 showrooms and has total annual investments amounting to SR22 billion. They are of the view that this would help create job opportunities for at least 3,000 Saudis in the car sales market.
Speaking to the newspaper, the businessmen pointed out that most of these car showrooms violate Saudization regulations and employ overstayers as well as those who ran away from their original sponsors. They urged the Makkah governorate and the Jeddah municipality to expedite procedures to allocate plots of land at a strategic location in northern Jeddah for the new company.
Spelling out the features of the company, they said it would have closed showrooms and international auctions for used cars. There would also be offices for government and security agencies and departments to complete vehicle sales and transaction procedures. The closed showrooms would have surveillance cameras, and branches of local banks would be on the company premises, so that banking transactions can be made until midnight after closure of banks in the evening. Currently, car showroom owners are forced to go to bank branches operating at King Abdulaziz International Airport after closure of banks in the evening. The new company project is estimated to cost more than SR1 billion.
Jeddah car showrooms handle over 50 percent of the wholesale automobile sales in the Kingdom. As a major shipping gateway into the Kingdom, Jeddah makes available of about 40 percent of cars sold in the Riyadh region. Automobile showrooms in the northern and southern regions also rely heavily on the city.
The car showroom owners point out that the new move is part of getting rid of the prevailing chaotic situation in Jeddah’s automobile market. They identified that frequent incidents of theft and robbery, presence of illegal workers, lack of a surveillance system, and attempts of criminals and wanted people to sell stolen vehicles are some of the hallmarks of this chaotic situation.
Ali Al-Sheikhi, a Saudi showroom owner, said that many showroom owners had become victims of cheating by criminals and wanted people. “These guys get rid of their vehicles by selling them at the used car market. When the security officials track these vehicles, they find them at some of these showrooms,” he said, adding that this incurred financial losses to shop owners in addition to putting them in legal complications.
Al-Sheikhi urged the security authorities to set up a division at the market to furnish details about those who want to sell their vehicles such as whether they have any criminal background or connections with extremist activities.
Meanwhile, a source at Jeddah traffic police said that a unit had been created at south Jeddah’s used car sales market to give information about vehicles and their owners who want to sell them.
Jeddah traffic police have issued a circular asking buyers of used vehicles to take a letter from the showroom to the traffic police to find out details about the vehicle and its seller before concluding a purchase deal. “All car showrooms have been warned against making transactions with any criminals or those wanted by security agencies, and that any violators of the regulation have to face punitive measures,” the source said.
There were several cases of theft and robbery at car showrooms in Jeddah. The showroom owners said that closure of local banks at 4 p.m. is one of the major reasons for this. They have to go to local bank branches at the airport to deposit the money after closure of the bank branches in their neighborhood. Some owners used to keep the money in lockers inside their showrooms.
There has been an increase in incidents of robbery and theft at Al-Jawhara car market in recent months. The showroom owners attributed this to the absence of an effective surveillance mechanism at the market. They demanded authorities to put an end to the chaotic situation at the market. They sought intervention of municipal authorities to take steps to refurbish the market by removing the damaged vehicles that have been dumped in the area and filling up of the nearby swamps.
The showroom owners also noted that pavements, sidewalks and streets leading to the market are in a bad shape with loose tiles, potholes and pits. There are no toilets, restaurants and general service offices at the market. The random market has also become a haven for illegal workers as well as those overstaying Haj and Umrah visas in addition to infiltrators, mainly African nationals and Burmese people. They noted that these illegal workers had turned the streets in the neighborhood of the market into temporary auction centers. 
Owaida Al-Johani, head of the committee for showroom owners, car brokers and spare parts showrooms, said there are several illegal workers engaged in cheating Saudis and foreigners who reach the market to sell their vehicles. “They employ various tricks to cheat the customers. These unscrupulous guys make huge profits by buying such vehicles at low prices and then resell them at a premium,” he said.
Al-Johani said that he had met with Jeddah Police Director Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Saadi and briefed him on such incidents. “The police chief assured me that officials would clamp down on such guys in line with a joint security plan,” he said.