World market leader enters vehicle inspection business in Saudi Arabia
The world market leader for vehicle inspection is entering another country: DEKRA has started to perform periodical technical inspections in Saudi Arabia. The first inspection station is open in the city of Ha’il with another 14 to follow in due course. The concession for the joint venture of DEKRA and a local partner will run for ten years with the possibility of renewal.
Saudi Arabia had a total of around 15 million vehicles in 2023; growth rates are between 4 and 5 percent per year. The authorities have focused on vehicle inspection as an important factor in road safety and are realigning the market: A total of 60 new inspection stations are planned nationwide, divided into four individual concessions. New vehicles have to be inspected for the first time after three years, followed by annual inspections.
One of the four new concessions has been awarded to the joint venture between DEKRA and the Arabian Automotive Group, with DEKRA holding the majority of shares. The joint venture will set up and operate a total of 15 inspection stations, including in the capital Riyadh and the major cities of Dammam and Jeddah. 13 stations will be focused on passenger car inspections, the other two specifically on commercial vehicle inspection in industrial centers. About a third of the network is expected to be up and running by the end of the third quarter of 2025, with all 15 stations in operation by the first quarter of 2026.
“Every day and everywhere, DEKRA works for a safe, secure, and sustainable world. This vision has been at the heart of our core business of vehicle inspection for the past 100 years”, said Toni Purcaro, Executive Vice President of the DEKRA Group and responsible for the Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. “We are pleased that with our experience and expertise we can now also help make the roads safer and the air cleaner with every inspection in Saudi Arabia. Wherever we can contribute to more safety in other fields in the future, we are committed to do that, as well.”
“DEKRA’s technical expertise in the field of periodical vehicle inspection is in demand worldwide and is winning over more and more markets”, says Christoph Nolte, Executive Vice President responsible for DEKRA’s Vehicle Inspection Service Division. “Technically safe vehicles that are regularly inspected according to recognized standards are a basic requirement for road safety – as emission checks are for environmental protection in the transport sector.”
Saudi Arabia is the second country in the Arabian-speaking world, after Morocco, in which DEKRA carries out vehicle inspections. The company is by far the number 1 in the world in this field with way more than 30 million vehicle inspections per year in 24 countries.
