Egyptian auto market in 2020 grows 32.6% despite the pandemic and restrictions because of a deflation of the currency. Full-Year sales have been 227.117, while Fiat and MG impress by growing 207.3 and 228.3% respectively.
Economic Environment
Economic activity appears to have improved somewhat in recent months, following a 1.7% year-on-year contraction in Q2 (Q1: +5.0% YoY). PMI data for September indicated the first overall increase in non-oil private sector activity in 14 months, driven by an uptick in consumer demand.
Meanwhile, relatively low new Covid-19 cases through October and continued public spending initiatives bode well for activity in Q4. In other news, regional tensions have heightened regarding Ethiopia’s under-construction dam on the Nile river, with talks resuming in late October in an attempt to break the impasse over the operation and control of all-important water flows.
In politics, polls opened on 24 October for the first of multiple rounds of voting in parliamentary elections. No significant shift in the composition is expected, with the legislative body broadly lacking the powers to balance the authority of the president.
Market Trend
The Egyptian car market grew incredibly in 2020 despite the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic due to deflation of the local currency.
Following two years (2014 and 2015) of high sales volume, in 2016 and 2017, the Egyptian vehicles industry has been buffeted by a devalued currency, spiraling new-vehicle price increases, higher interest rates, and three hikes in fuel prices as the government rolls back fuel subsidies to control budgetary expenditures.
In addition, VAT increased in 2017, and duties for over 2 liters vehicles further increased. The result was an unprecedented fall of demand with 2017 light vehicle sales down at 137.821, losing 36% from the previous year.
Finally, during 2018 the huge pressure on vehicles price has been reduced and the positive economic trend created the mood for recovery. In fact, the market ended the year with 193.000 light vehicle sales. In 2019 the market has been hit again by the price increase and ending the year with a double-digit fall, breaking the recovery. Indeed, Total sales in 2019 have been 171.252, down 11.3%.
Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 227.117, reporting a 32.6% increase in sales compared to 2019.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Chevrolet (+38.1%) gained 0.8% market share, followed by Toyota (+87.3%)-up 3 spots-, which gained 3% share. Nissan -down 1 spot- lost 4.4% share, falling 8.4%. Hyundai fell in 4th place (+1.9%), followed by Renault -down 1 spot- which reported the worst performance on the leaderboard by falling 10.9%.
MG -up 4 spots- grew 207.3%, followed by Fiat which reported the best performance by growing 228.3 -up 5 spots- and Kia which fell 2 spots and gained 28.6% sales. Closing the leaderboard we have Chery -down 2 spots- gaining 38% and Opel -down 1 spot- gaining 68.5%.
The most sold vehicle this year has been the Chevrolet TFR (+61.9%) with 32.919 units sold, followed by the Toyota Corolla, which gained 114.6% registering 14.318 new sales this year. The Nissan Sunny (+0.5%) closes the podium and reports 13.365 new units sold.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for the top 10 Brands and top 10 Models.
