Market share Toyota Egypt more than doubles over past 5 years: CEO

Ahmed Monsif, CEO of Toyota Egypt, explains the future plans of the company, and the main obstacles facing the local automotive market

Toyota Egypt was able to reach high sales in the Egyptian market and is among the largest Japanese companies in terms of sales in Egypt. Over the past few years, the company has largely expanded in maintenance and sales centres and was able to establish a regional centre for spare parts for the purpose of export, and succeeded in that.
Toyota Egypt is planning to expand in Egypt, as it believes that the Egyptian market is among the most prominent and most important markets in the Middle East.
Ahmed Monsif, CEO of Toyota Egypt, explains the future plans of the company, and the main obstacles facing the local automotive market

What has Toyota Egypt achieved over the last 5 years?
Over the last five years, Toyota Egypt has achieved several successes in different operational aspects. During the period from 2010 until the end of 2014, the growth in unit sales reached 158%, and the company's market share increased from 4.2% to 9.0%. The company has also inaugurated the Parts Distribution Center (PDC), which is considered one of the highest profile projects of its kind in Africa and the Middle East. The project is located in Sadat City's Industrial Zone, on an area of 30,000 sqm. The project also includes a 3S facility (Sales, Service centre and Spare parts) on 6,000 sqm, to serve forklift sales and after sales operations.
Toyota Egypt has also extended its after sales services, by opening an advanced Express Maintenance Service centre in the Smouha district of Alexandria, and a new 3S facility in Ismailia to serve Toyota Customers within the Suez Canal area. In the coming 10 years, the company is aiming at improving and growing operations in order to support Egypt's economy, provide more employment opportunities and gain customers' satisfaction.
Will there be more Toyota distributors in the future?
Toyota Egypt adopts a long-term strategy. We follow an ambitious plan to expand across Egypt. We work on opening new showrooms and negotiating with more dealers to reach our customers across Egypt, especially in remote areas and Upper Egypt.
Toyota is one of the top motor companies in Egypt. Such responsibility motivates us to exert double the effort to maintain our leading position and to deepen our customers' trust of the Toyota brand by providing them with exceptional unique services.
Will there be any new expansions soon?
Toyota Egypt is fully dedicated to reaching its customers in all governorates. As part of our plans, we pay special attention to key success factors while choosing new locations. Soon, we will start another project on a space of 10,200 sqm at the industrial zone in Borg El-Arab, near to Alexandria. We also drew up plans to expand in Upper Egypt. Moreover, Toyota Egypt has established a very well-equipped new Body and Paint Service Center in Keba'a in Cairo. Toyota Egypt is devoted to outlining the best marketing plans, upgrading services and maximising efficiency on all levels, in order to successfully fulfil the needs of the Egyptian car market. At EGP 120mn, Toyota Egypt inaugurated the first spare parts distribution centre in Sadat City. Being the biggest of its kind in Egypt and North Africa, this PDC provides 1,200 job opportunities for the Egyptian youth. The centre ensures that the customers' demands are met with speed and efficiency and at reasonable prices. It also incorporates a massive store for original Toyota spare parts. This centre surely represents a significant milestone in Toyota Egypt's expansion journey.
What are the most significant quality certifications Toyota Egypt received?
Toyota Egypt has certainly won the trust of its customers. This can be seen in their reactions towards Toyota's various products. For instance, Toyota Egypt received the Silver Award for the Best Customer Service in 2007-2014, the Certificate of Quality for all our branches certified by Toyota Global, and the Excellence Award in Marketing for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
What is your opinion about local car assembly? Has it succeeded?
In link with my previous response to your earlier questions, the local assembly lines still need more time to be effective in the automotive industry. However, the assembly manufacturers are capable of understanding the nature of the local market and its needs. I believe that local car assembly in Egypt has come a long way, and still has more miles to cross. The future will witness more demand on car assembly for sure.
Furthermore, what is said about the low quality of the cars assembled in Egypt is not true. Toyota Egypt managed to assemble the Toyota Fortuner 2016 (aka Toyota SW4) through a huge production line, supervised by well-trained engineers and workers. They abide by the global and local efficiency standards in order to keep the brand's reputation and to respect Toyota's customers in the Egyptian market. This enabled Toyota to acquire around 40% of the four-wheel drive's sales in Egypt.
How does Toyota Egypt see future competition in the Egyptian market in line with the desire of new investors to hit the market?
The Egyptian market is unique with different tastes. The investment climate in Egypt is considered very attractive. It's normal to see new companies enter the market and others exit due to their inability to compete, stay or afford different services. For example, the Egyptian client needs cars with good quality, less operation expenses, and high endurance levels that can stand environment circumstances in Egypt. Thus, Toyota vehicles have high market share when they get resold.
Did the decline in tourism negatively affect your microbus sales, given that you are the highest in this category?
With the increasing economic growth rates and the potential tourism recovery, I expect sales flow to restore its normal rates over the upcoming period.
How do you see the Suez Canal development Axis project? Is there any intention to participate in such project?
Toyota Egypt had the long term vision for the Suez Canal Zone area, and accordingly we established the Ismailia 3S facility, and which proved to be successful as the Suez Canal was one of their targets and it became very close to the Suez Canal Project .The Suez Canal Axis Development project is one of the most important projects contributing to increasing the Suez Canal income. Definitely, we will exert efforts to participate effectively in all fields especially in major projects.
How do you assess the governmental performance and what are the criteria for achieving strong growth rates in the Egyptian auto market?
In line with the surrounding circumstances, government performance is considered a good one as it is working in such a difficult environment devoting its efforts toward the Egyptians needs. Automotive market requires more support in regulatory, organising laws and for the whole industry. Indicators refer that auto industry will witness further development over the upcoming period.