The country’s oldest automaker is back in business: State-owned El Nasr Automotive has officially restarted operations after a 15-year hiatus, delivering its first batch of electric 49-passanger buses in partnership with China’s Yutong to Transport Ministry-affiliated companies, according to a cabinet statement. We first heard that El Nasr was linking up with a then-unnamed Chinese company to produce buses back in March from a government source.

El Nasr already wants to up unit volume and the ratio of local components: The automaker’s factory currently has an annual production capacity of 300 buses, which the company hopes to increase 1.5k by 2027. El Nasr is also planning to increase the ratio of local components that go into the vehicles from 50% to 60-70% by an unspecified time point. Exports to other Arab countries are also in the works.

Electric microbuses could also roll off El Nasr assembly lines soon: During the event announcing the resumption of operations, El Nasr inked a contract with Singapore-Taiwanese firm Tron Energy and UAE-based Your Transit to launch a USD 10 mn joint stock company to produce electric microbuses. The new JV is aiming to kick off production in the middle of next year and rollout 300 microbuses and 600 batteries in 2026, before doubling production the year after.

The company’s passenger vehicle factory will also soon be up and running: Development of the company’s passenger vehicle factory should wrap up in December, with trial production penciled in for the middle of next year. The factory has a targeted annual capacity of 20k vehicles and will begin operations using no less than 45% local components.

Buses, microbuses, and passenger vehicles may just be the start: The company also aims to also assemble light transport vehicles, golf carts, and electric tuk tuks, El Nasr Chairman Khaled Shedid said, pointing to the company’s currently inactive factories that could be brought back into operation.

El Nasr has been on our radar for the last few years: The company was brought back to life in 2017 after having been liquidated in 2009. Since then, work has been underway to modernize the company’s production facilities and the automaker has regularly popped up in the news for being in negotiations with various international automakers about setting up a project — including Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group and China’s Dongfeng.

Remember: The Madbouly government has been working to localize the auto industry, introducing the Egyptian Automotive Industry Development Program in 2022, which will offer incentives to auto players with the aim of localizing the industry and its feeder industries in efforts to enhance the country’s existing assembly and manufacturing capabilities — and encouraging new investment to the sector.

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