The Arab American vehicle Company (AVV), a subsidiary of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, is negotiating with a number of companies to manufacture cars at its local factories. The company expects to adopt the strategy of the automotive industry, expecting to attract foreign investments as they start to apply. Major General Mohamed Anis, the company's president, said that it was targeting sales of $60m by the end of the current fiscal year and that the AAV began to develop production lines to boost the plant's production capacity and increase sales volumes. He added that the company's last fiscal year sales amounted to EGP 50m, while the total production capacity is 17,600 cars annually, in cooperation with some major manufacturers including Kia, Peugeot, Fiat, and Toyota Egypt. Anis pointed out that the company exports its military products and "Jeep 8" to some countries including Iraq, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Portugal, and the Netherlands. The percentage of the local component of the products of the AAV is 45%, and the company seeks to increase it to 60% within eight years. The company has raised the proportion of the local component in the new generation of the Toyota Fortuner, which was recently contracted with Toyota Egypt to reach 47.5%, with a capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 cars a year. AAV is negotiating with Fiat Chrysler to design and produce a car with low capacity and prices commensurate with the local market. Moreover, Anis pointed out that the company cooperates with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and with the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), in addition to its membership in the Egyptian Automobile Manufacturers Association (EAMA) and the Arab Organization for Industrialization participated in the preparation of the strategy of the automotive industry. According to Anis, the strategy is the saviour of the automotive sector in the coming years and will contribute to attracting more investments in this sector. He revealed that the AAV has faced some challenges in the past months, following the decision to liberalise the dollar exchange rate, including difficult to manage hard currency, which forced the company to reduce production capacity at the time, but the situation improved, and there is no crisis now. He added that the company has eight production lines to design and manufacture eight different models of military and civilian vehicles. There are at least 600 workers in the company between technical, financial, and administrative engineer. Anis said that the local market is relatively stable and needs to inject more investment, provided that controls and legislation that define the rules of work and stimulate investors. "The local market is attractive for investment, especially in the automotive sector and accommodates various types", said Anis. He called on the state to play a role in establishing the design, research, and development departments of the automotive industry in the Egyptian universities, pointing out to the need of providing the appropriate environment for the manufacture of a 100% Egyptian car by establishing local manufacturers for all parts of the car, including rubber and parts of the body and chassis. The AAV was founded in 1978 through a partnership signed between the Arab Organization for Industrialization and the American Chrysler Company for the design and manufacture of military vehicles.
