A rough start to 2024: Auto sales in January fell to their lowest level since April 2023from the previous month’s spike, noting a 40% m-o-m drop to 6.3k, according to figures from the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC).

Dips across the board in December: Buses, trucks, and passenger cars all saw a decline in sales in comparison to December. Passenger car sales fell 45% m-o-m to 4,808 units, bus sales dropped 34% m-o-m to 522 units, and truck sales were down 25% m-o-m with 943 units sold.

But sales are up from where they were a year ago, recording a 17% y-o-y increase, on theback of a 40% y-o-y increase in passenger car sales. Bus (36%) and truck (17%) sales were both down y-o-y.

Remember: Last year was particularly rough for the auto market, with total sales volumesfalling by over half, dropping to 90.4k vehicles from 184.8krecorded in 2022.

Blame the FX crunch: Demand for cars has been high but was not fulfilled due to the FXshortage limiting supply in the market and giving distributors leverage to hike prices as they please.

Things should be looking up soon: Used car prices dropped by 5-15% following the Ras El Hekma agreement that will see the government receiving USD 35 bn over the coming months through fresh funds and existing UAE deposits. The inflows are on track to significantly improve Egypt’s external financing position and FX liquidity, with the EGP already recovering on the parallel market from record lows recorded over the past few months, which should in theory lead to more cars coming onto the market and reduce prices.

The caveat: AMIC figures reflect data contributed by member distributors, who include most(but not all) industry participants.

EL NASR TO JOINTLY PRODUCE BUSES WITH CHINESE PARTNER-

El Nasr to team up with Chinese company to assemble buses: State-ownedautomaker El Nasr Automotive is wrapping up talks with an undisclosed Chinese company and a local private sector player to jointly assemble buses, a government source told Enterprise. Contracts should be inked soon, the source added.

ICYMI: El Nasr Chairman Khaled Shedid said last month that his company is working with a Chinese company to jointly roll out a car in 2025, but it is unclear whether his comments referred to the company’s bus production plans or a separate project.

El Nasr has recently produced around 100 buses and minibusses for the NewAdministrative Capital, after the Public Enterprise Ministry awarded it a tender, the source told us.

A JV with India’s Hinduja Group is also in the cards: It was reported last month that Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group is in talks with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt to set up an automotive factory in the country in partnership with El Nasr with an annual capacity of 6k vehicles.

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