CARS of all sizes, shapes and colours are on display at the Nasr City fairgrounds as part of the 12th Cairo International Motor Show, reports Eman Youssef. Better known as Formula Al-Ahram 2004, the massive event ends its run tomorrow. Both locally assembled and imported cars are on show. Discounts are also available on most major brands. Chinese models -- previously unknown in Egypt -- caught many a visitor's eye, particularly because of their cheaper prices. In general, Egypt's car market has witnessed a surge in sales with last summer's sudden customs tariffs reductions. According to Mohamed El-Hadari, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Automotive Manufacturing Association (EAMA), the recent custom reductions on imported cars have, however, also hit locally assembled cars hard. While the prices of imported cars fell by 25 per cent, those of locally assembled cars fell by only five per cent. To ameliorate the situation, El-Hadari suggested that the government implement a minimum four per cent customs reduction on parts needed for local assembly plants. As the government debates various possible modifications to the new customs tariff, this is precisely one of the matters being considered. Such modifications are a crucial part of supporting a local industry that, according to EAMA Chairman Abdel-Moneim Souedi, "makes an important economic, technical and social contribution to the engineering sector at large." Ali Tawfiq, the chairman of the Egyptian Auto Feeders Association (EAFA), said Egypt's automotive industry was continuously growing. Production capacity is currently 180,000 cars per year, well above the nearly 60,000 actually produced a year ago. Of these, 40,000 are passenger cars, 15,000 trucks, and 3,500 heavy-duty vehicles. More than 200 buses complete the picture. In addition to the cars produced or assembled locally, Egypt also imports 25,000 vehicles a year. "We need to utilise the capabilities we already have," Souedi said. Industrial vehicle production in Egypt dates back to 1959, although the industry really gained momentum in the early 1960s. Today, the local components used in assembled vehicles amount to 40 per cent for passenger cars, and 60 per cent for trucks and buses. Hassan Hamdi, a board member at Al- Ahram, the event's organiser, said that with investments approaching up to LE10 billion, the automotive industry deserves to be developed and sustained. Egypt's auto parts industry has also been catalysed by developments in the automotive industry worldwide. "The giant automotive manufacturers' global outsourcing policy has made it essential for auto feeders to penetrate the global market," Tawfiq said. "Specialised automotive exhibitions [like Formula] can help introduce our products and services." Al-Ahram Board Chairman and Chief Editor Ibrahim Nafie said he was "optimistic that Egypt would be able to make a great leap in the auto industry in the coming period," which would certainly be good news considering the industry itself has become one of the leading drivers of the national economy as a whole.
