Saudi Arabia’s transport regulator is examining how Hedaya Automotive classified 3,260 vehicles in September after a small-business owner noticed rows of the company’s new cars at a storage yard outside Jeddah. The company reported 26,840 domestic sales for the month, a record for its Saudi operation, but vehicle records reviewed by The Plausible Post show the 3,260 transfers went to an affiliated finance company, not individual buyers.
The discovery began when Joaquim Velasques, who runs a catering-supply business, went to collect packaging from the yard on 28 September. He recognised the cars from online listings and photographed several visible vehicle identification numbers. “I thought they were waiting for customers. Then I saw the same cars advertised as already sold,” he said.
The regulator has requested sales and registration data from the company, according to two people familiar with the review. Hedaya has not been accused of breaking the law, and the regulator has not announced a finding. The company says fleet and finance placements are valid sales under its accounting policy, even when vehicles await handover.
The yard behind the figures
A reporter visited the fenced compound, about 18 km (11 miles) from Jeddah’s port, on 30 September. More than 1,000 new cars sat in numbered rows, many bearing small inventory stickers matching those visible in photographs Velasques supplied. A logistics contractor confirmed it had stored Hedaya vehicles there during September but declined to give a total.
Vehicle-registration extracts reviewed by the Post show 3,260 transfers from Hedaya’s dealer network to its finance affiliate during the month. At least 1,170 of those cars remained unregistered to private buyers on 30 September; 418 were subsequently registered to rental and leasing firms in the first week of October. The company’s published sales total does not separate these transfers from retail purchases.
The transfers represent about 12% of Hedaya’s reported September sales. At the company’s average listed price, the vehicles were worth roughly SAR 214 million (about €52 million). Saudi dealerships commonly arrange finance and fleet leases, but the distinction between a completed retail sale and a vehicle awaiting delivery can affect investors’ view of demand, as well as how much stock dealers carry into a new month.
Company defends its accounting
Neha Goyette-Hettinger, Hedaya’s regional finance director, said the affiliate had taken ownership and financial risk for the vehicles, so the company counted them as sales. “These were completed commercial transfers, not cars invented on a spreadsheet,” she said. She said storage reflected scheduling and customer handover arrangements, and that the firm would provide the regulator with its records.
Sirio Parisi, an automotive-market analyst in Riyadh, said the arrangement may fit the company’s accounting rules but still leaves an important gap in the headline number. “A car can change legal owner without reaching a driver. Investors need to know which kind of sale they are being shown,” he said. He added that large quarter-end transfers can make demand appear stronger than showroom traffic alone would suggest.
Velasques said he had not expected his photographs to prompt official questions. The regulator has asked Hedaya to provide a breakdown of September sales by buyer type and delivery status; the company says it will respond. The next monthly sales report, due later in October, is expected to show whether the stored vehicles have reached customers or remain on dealer and finance-company books.
