WWCOTY MARKS A MILESTONE BY ADDING LAYAN DAMANHOURI, FROM SAUDI ARABIA, TO ITS PANEL OF MOTORING FEMALE JOURNALISTS
9 June 2023.– The Women’s World Car of the Year (WWCOTY) is pleased to announce that Layan Damanhouri, journalist in Al-Bilad Newspaper, has joined this international jury. It is the only car awards in the world composed exclusively of women motoring journalists. With her appointment, WWCOTY has 66 judges from 48 countries.
The addition of Layan is particularly important because she is among the first few women journalists to cover the automotive industry in Saudi Arabia. She reported on the recent reforms and progress that promote women in various sectors and grant equal opportunities in Saudi Arabia. She covered news related to the automotive industry and the female market segment, such as car sales targeting female audiences, car insurance, and test drives for different car brands.
Her appointment to the WWCOTY jury highlights the new role that women have begun to play in this Arab country, especially in the sports and entertainment industry. Since the introduction of the Vision 2030’s plans, it opened up many business and investment opportunities.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in attracting high-profile sporting and automotive events in recent years as part of its Vision 2030 agenda. It hosted mega global events for the first time in its history, such as the Dakar Rally, the Formula One, and others. It also built a new racing track to hosted Formula drivers since 2021. The Kingdom signed agreements to host the MotoGP, Formula E and the World Rally Championship round. There are plans for developing the racing industry and the country introduced Formula 4 academies for young drivers, and is constructing a permanent circuit where the Grand Prix will take place in 2026.
Sports and entertainment will play a crucial role to attract tourists.
The Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, where Damanhouri works and lives, is growing at an estimated 36% with Saudi Arabia as the leading market. Saudi Arabia accounted for almost 35% in the MENA region in 2020.
The majority of households in Saudi Arabia own or drive a car. Medium and big cars are more common than smaller cars. In 2021, Saudi Arabia imported $12.1B worth of cars, becoming the 13th largest importer in the world. At the same year, automobiles were the most imported product in Saudi Arabia primarily from Japan, China, United States, South Korea and Germany.
Saudi Arabia also moves towards building local content. According with the country’s Vision 2030 goals, the National Industrial Development Center aims to attract 3-4 Original Equipment Manufacturers. The goal is to produce 300,000 vehicles annually with 40% local content by 2030. NIDC provides incentives to enable industrialization through loans, tax incentives and tariff exemptions.
Source: WWCOTY
Photograph: WWCOTY
