Car sales have continued to decline throughout January by 39% compared to the same period of 2016. The market has witnessed the sale of 9,406 units compared to 15,391 units. The report issued by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC) showed a 28% decline in the demand on passenger cars, recording the sales of 6,930 cars in January, compared to 9,600 cars in January 2016. The decline in the sales of buses reached 55.5%, recording sales of 925 buses in January, compared to 2,070 in January 2016. Sales of trucks have declined by 57.8% to 1,500 trucks compared to 3,650 in the same month of 2016. Khaled Saad, general manager of "Brilliance" in Egypt and board member of the Egyptian Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that a decline in sales by 40% is expected due to the low demand by Egyptian consumers after the recent waves of price increases which have continued for the past three months. He expected a decline in sales at the same rate in February compared to February 2016; however, the percentage of decline is expected to decrease in March thanks to the discount offers made by the majority of dealers and a number of agents, in order to get rid of the accumulated stock from the noticeable recession in sales. Saad believes that the car sales in Egypt will reach the range of 25%-30% by the end of 2017. AMIC's report said that the demand on locally collected cars has declined by 42.5%, reaching 4,800 units in January, compared to 8,300 units in January 2016. Imported cars' sales have also declined by 34.6%, reaching 4,500 cars, compared to 7,020 cars during the period of comparison. Sales of locally manufactured passenger cars have declined by 33.5%, recording 2,800 passenger cars compared to 4,300 cars in the same period. Imported passenger cars have declined by 23.9%, recording 4,100 cars compared to 5,360 cars. The sales of locally manufactured buses have declined by 52.7%, recording 580 buses, compared to 1,200 cars. Sales of imported buses have declined by 59.5% recording sales of 345 buses compared to 852 buses. The sales of locally manufactured trucks have declined by 51.7% recording 1,370 trucks compared to 2,800 trucks during the same period last year. Sales of imported trucks have declined by 79%, recording 170 trucks in January 2017 compared to 819 trucks in January 2016.
