GM

General Motors (GM) announced a 28 percent growth in Saudi sales compared to October 2009 at an event to mark the Suburban’s 75 years of production — the industry’s longest running model — and reveal the winner of Chevrolet’s competition to find Saudi’s oldest Suburban. The proud owner of the winning 1968 Suburban, Mohamed Mohamed Ali Saeed of Jeddah, was awarded with a special 2010 75th Anniversary Diamond Edition Chevrolet Suburban by John Stadwick, president and managing director of GM Middle East Operations. Saeed said: “My 1968 Suburban is like a member of my family and I’m extremely proud to have its longstanding loyalty recognized through this competition. I’m frequently stopped by people who want to buy it. I’ve always taken care of it and still use it for long distance travel, often driving from Jeddah to Tabuk, a journey of over 1,000 km.” Stadwick and GM representatives hosted dealers and media at the event, held at the Hilton Hotel, and took the opportunity to provide a business update on GM’s strong sales performance in the Kingdom and the role the Suburban has played in GM’s success over the years in Saudi Arabia. “Times have changed, but the Suburban remains a fixture in the industry for customers who need maximum passenger and cargo space. The Suburban’s core capabilities and dependability have remained constant for more than seven decades,” said Stadwick. “It gives me great pleasure to award Mohamed Mohamed Ali Saeed with a special 2010 75th Diamond Edition Suburban.” The Diamond Edition arrived in September 2010, only a limited number of 250 vehicles were allocated to the region and these quickly sold out.
 
Saudi Cargo

Saudi Airlines Cargo Company (Saudi Cargo) has added Amsterdam and Nairobi as new destinations to its expanding freighter network starting Dec. 5. After a long absence Saudi Cargo returns to Kenya with 3 weekly MD11 freighter flights to carry flowers from Nairobi to Schiphol Airport. Starting in Jeddah the flights will carry cargo to Nairobi from Saudia Arabia and Saudi Cargo’s extensive network in Far East, Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. Saudi Cargo will make its debut as online freighter carrier in Amsterdam. Fahad Hammad, CEO, said: “As part of our long term strategic plan Saudi Cargo is investing heavily in its main hubs in Jeddah and Riyadh to bring the service levels up to world class standards. We are expanding the network by adding more destinations and growing the freighter fleet to build a comprehensive international network for our clients.”

ICD

Seasoned banking professional Ahmed Khizer Khan joined the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), an affiliate of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), as chief operating officer effective Dec. 1, 2010. Khan will be based in Jeddah. He will also be a member of the ICD Executive Management team responsible for executing the overall growth strategy for the institution. The ICD is a multilateral financial institution, which was established by the IDB Board of Governors in November 1999 in Jeddah. Khan brings with him over 20 years of business management and leadership experience in the financial services industry with specialization in retail and commercial banking. His previous role included the post of chief executive, emerging markets for Barclays GRCB (Global Retail and Commercial Banking). He was also a member of the Barclays Group Leadership Team (Top 20 executives across the institution).
 
Al Jomaih Automotive

Al Jomaih Automotive Company (AAC) held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of work on the new AAC-SSS facility (sales, service and spare parts), which will be the company’s second full service, spare parts facility and sales outlet and the fourth showroom in Jeddah for GM core brands. Costing SR45 million the new facility is scheduled for completion in March 2012 when it will become the 100th AAC outlet in the Kingdom. Aljomaih Automotive already has 99 branches spread throughout Saudi Arabia with a total investment of about SR650 million. Sheikh Ibrahim Aljomaih, vice chairman and CEO of AAC, extended his special thanks to John Stadwick, Fadi Ghosn, Steve Braun, Mohammed El Houssami, Wissam Kamel and Shyam Prasad, as well as to the team members and staff who helped to bring the event together.  He added: “As a GM dealer since 1967, Al Jomaih has grown to become both a market leader with more than 40 percent of GM’s volume in KSA and the largest GM dealer in the Middle East. This is in addition to being one of the largest GM dealers in the world.”

LG

LG Electronics, is set to introduce Roboking, which is an extension to the robot vacuum cleaner series introduced few years ago by LG. Roboking VR 5902 LV has been creatively designed in a way that enables maximum cleaning and is equipped with two cameras, which is first of its kind in the industry. The cameras allow RoboKing to better analyze its environment, so it knows exactly where to clean. “Today, people need more efficient, reliable and convenient consumer electronics. At LG, we are committed to delivering a range of premium, high quality and high performance home appliances,” said John Lee, managing director of LG Electronics KSA. Product Manager, LGe KSA, Sanginn Lee said: “As a home appliance maker, we aim to make our customers lives easier, more convenient, and, ultimately, better.” Unchul Hwang, executive vice president of United Yousef Mohamed Naghi Company, said, “It is of course the era of robot vacuum cleaners, this new Roboking in the series of robotic vacuum cleaners raises the bar for all robotic vacuum cleaners.”