Women flocked to Le Mall in Jeddah on Thursday to check out Saudi Arabia’s first car exhibition aimed at women, a few months after the kingdom granted them the right to drive.
Pink, orange and yellow balloons hung in the mall’s showroom as women posed for photos and selfies in front of the cars.
In a decree issued in September, King Salman ordered by June an end to the ban on women drivers, a conservative tradition that has limited women’s mobility and been seen by activists as an emblem of their suppression.
The landmark royal decree has been hailed as proof of a new progressive trend in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.
“I’ve always been interested in cars, but we didn’t have the ability to drive,” said Ghada al-Ali, a customer. “And now I’m very interested in buying a car but I would like the payments and prices to not be very high.”
Saudi Arabia’s cost of living has risen after the government hiked domestic gas prices and introduced value-added tax (VAT) in January.
The exhibition focused on fuel-efficient cars and provided a team of saleswomen to help their new customer base. The showroom carried signs emblazoned with the slogan “Drive and Shop”, a play on words in Arabic.
