Muscat: The love for, and wish to buy latest car models among citizens as well as expatriates in Oman is a well-known.
Though new cars are available at showrooms, latest models are out of stock at some places, according to dealers.
Salesmen explaining the latest features and attractions of a new model at mega car showrooms in Oman was a common sight in the past. Not anymore, at least for now.
The shortage of semiconductor computer chips across the globe has led to massive disruption in the car industry, with sales and production numbers taking a massive global hit.
A number of leading automobile dealers in the Sultanate of Oman admit that there is a waiting list of bookings for new car models at car showrooms.
The problems can be traced back to the Covid-19 pandemic, and are an ongoing issue due to the resultant supply-chain crisis.
The impact meant that many semiconductor factories were closed down, and now are running low on staff which seriously affected the global supply.
Initially the shortage of the silicon chips led automotive companies to halt production in some cases.
The Times of Oman spoke to some top officials of car dealers in the country and there was a unanimous view that the core issue affecting the production of cars has been the global scarcity of computer microchips used inside the vehicles.
A top executive of a leading car dealer said: “The production issues for vehicles worldwide started with shortage of chips.”
Another top boss of a company, which deals with popular Japanese and Korean models, said it was a simple issue of supply and demand.
“The disruption of semiconductors supply is directly related to the ongoing delay. Vehicle production has been hampered and it may take till the end of first quarter next year to get a semblance of normalcy in production. Some of the high-end cars’ waiting time is nearly a year.”
He added, “Asian manufacturers depend a lot on production of components in China and Taiwan. With growing concerns of recession in America and Europe, there are worries that the situation to have the latest models in Oman will take some more time.”
The delay in the arrival of new models has forced Ahmed al Balushi, an interested buyer working in a private bank, to look for cars in the used market.
He said: “We just can’t get our hands on new cars, so we are looking for recently sold cars in the used market.”
“I had booked a top-end SUV of a popular brand in March this year and the dealers have told me that it may arrive by December,” he added.
