Cars made in Saudi Arabia are going to be a reality. Two Saudi students, Abdulla Al-Shaikh and Ibrahim Al-Sadun, have received a license to manufacture cars and are on their way to setting up the Kingdom's first car industry. Saudi Gazette met these two enthusiastic and professional young men during the recent Dhahran Custom Cars Exhibition held by Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd, Emir of Eastern Province, to hone the talents of Saudi youths. Al-Shaikh, an information technology student at Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University, and his friend Al-Sadun are working together to produce the first car manufactured in the Kingdom. As a beginning, they are concentrating on producing sports buggies which are 900 CC, 135 horsepower, one seaters, with a 2x4 type body with long travel suspension. The two young Saudis say that their vehicles are highly efficient and very inexpensive when compared to imported counterparts. Their buggy was on display at the International Exhibition of Custom Cars in Dhahran and gained much attention. Al-Shaikh told Saudi Gazette that it took him and Al-Sadun two years and eight months to create the first prototype of their vehicle. The two entrepreneurs said that their goal is to introduce these vehicles, which are called sports buggies, to local market in three designs by using new technology. “We are aiming to find a place for ourselves in the automotive industry by starting with simple cars like these buggies and eventually producing road legal cars,” they said. “I believe that my country has come a long way in the chemical and petroleum industries and in the next few years the environment will be perfect for investing in the automotive industry and ours will be one of the first attempts to manufacture sports cars,” Al-Shaikh explained. “We have noticed over the years that people in our region engage in a lot of sand sports in their free time and a lot of people have shown interest in our products. However, importing a similar vehicle from the United States would cost a fortune, so we decided to provide this exciting and safe sports buggy to the public in a very affordable price range,” he added. Al-Shaikh said that the idea of manufacturing a car emanated from their passion for motor sports and cars. “I was a rally driver and I participated in a number of races on a cross-country motorcycle. I met a lot of people at that time some of whom were interested in building off-road buggies and they gave me a lot of books that helped me learn the basics of building cars,” he explained. “I have been interested in cars ever since I was a child, and as I grew older, I started to learn more and more about how they work and how they are made through my father who is an engineer working at General Motors in UAE. And when I was studying in the United States, I learned a lot there through reading and had some hands-on experience with friends there by attending some courses on automotive engineering,” Al-Shaikh added. He said that he and Al-Sadun are planning to produce about 200 to 500 cars in the first year divided into three basic models. Changes will be made in the second year depending on the data acquired in the first year. “We will build these cars by using specific blueprints and after that we will build the actual prototype and test it. Later we will do all the safety testing with the help of King Abdul Aziz City of Science and Technology, where our testing is directed by manager and engineer Mohammed Al-Hussainy. It is only then that we produce the final product,” said Al-Sadun. He added, “Initially, we will hire about six Saudi employees and later expect to have a crew of around 15 employees, all of whom will be Saudi nationals who have studied automobile engineering and car mechanics. And one of our main goals is to have Saudi employees on our team so that they can learn and transfer the technology we need to expand our project so that later on we can manufacture more complex vehicles.” The two aspiring car manufacturers said that in the testing stage they would test their cars and how they handle in the region and in other regions where they plan to sell them on a small scale basis and at the same time they would test the market's response to their designs and models. “More than 50 people offered us a good price for our first prototype buggy which was exhibited at the Dhahran Custom Cars Exhibition, which was very encouraging. However, since it is our prototype, we will not sell it, “ the two young Saudis said. They added that “by building and testing our prototype cars we will start looking into researching the concept of building road legal cars for daily use. That will be our final goal that Saudis should one day drive cars made in their country. It may take years, but we both are confident that those days will come soon”. Regarding safety measures involved in the design of the sports buggy, Al-Shaikh and Al-Sadun said that they are planning to use the help of King Abdul Aaziz City of Science and Technology in the simulation testing and then plan on doing their own crash testing in real life with the help of experts in the field. They explained that they will have all the standard safety precautions like a five-point harness seat belt, fire extinguishers and safety clothing, such as, helmets, gloves and eye protection. “By participating in the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd modified car show we met a lot of people who were impressed with our project and showed great interest in our car. They especially loved our designs and our affordable prices. To tell you the truth, we never expected this much interest from Saudis as well as expatriates,” the two young men said. “To make this prototype we have spent more than SR 100,000 and Inshallah our efforts will succeed with the help of the Saudi government authorities,” they added.
