Chinese automaker Jinbei signed a local assembly agreement with its sole agent in Egypt, Jinbei Royal Egypt Chairman Khaled Saad said at a press conference yesterday attended by EnterpriseAM. Assembly will be carried out at Ezz Elsewedy Automotive Factories’ Sixth of October facilities, with an initial output target of 3k light trucks in the first phase.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

Diesel-powered vehicles will be followed by the assembly of all-electric vehicles, which will be supported by the automaker’s desire to establish a regional hub for assembling its vehicles. The Chinese company wants to develop green production capabilities in Egypt connected to the Belt and Road Initiative that will be exported to neighboring countries, Saad said.

We could see more investments from Jinbei soon, with the company planning to expand investments in Egypt to meet local demand while positioning the country as an export platform, the company official added. The company will also seek to expand the local component ratio used in assembly, especially for EVs.

The two were originally planning for trucks to start rolling off the assembly line in early 2025, Saad told EnterpriseAM in November last year after the two companies inked an initial agreement. The agreement entails the local auto player assembling the first electric cargo van and microbus in the country, Saad told us at the time.

There’s certainly demand for trucks in Egypt, with sales up 180.6% y-o-y in August, according to figures from the Automotive Marketing Information Council seen by EnterpriseAM. On a monthly basis, truck sales also saw a solid 26.2% increase to 3.1k units.

Tags: