"Go Bus" has signed an agreement with Mercedes Benz to buy 22 new buses in 2018 for a cost of EGP 125m. Saad Attia, the chairperson of the company, said that the agreement includes the maintenance of 100 buses of the company's fleet in its workshops. He added that Go Bus has over 18 years of experience in the Egyptian market. It provides its services to about three million passengers every year and on 17 roads in Egypt. He explained that his company is continuously developing its fleet to serve a larger number of customers, noting that the plan of the company initially aimed to develop the buses every three years; however, the worsening economic situation changed the plan to every five or seven years. It is worth noting that bus sales have declined by 43% to record 8,757 buses, compared to 15,246 buses in the first eight months of 2016. The sales of trucks recorded 15,202, a 39% decline compared to the 24,947 trucks sold during the same period last year. The demand on locally assembled cars dropped by 33%, reaching 46,872 units since early 2017 until August, compared to 69,997 units in 2016. Imported units declined by 45.2% to reach 37,150 cars, compared to 67,597 cars during the same period last year. Overall car sales declined in August by 20% compared to the same period in 2016. The market witnessed 14,102 units sold compared to 17,641 units the previous year, according to the report by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC). The report showed a decline on the demand of passenger cars by 20%, recording sales of 10,311 cars, compared to 12,947 cars in August 2016. The sales of buses declined by 25.9%, recording sales of 1,384 buses in August, compared to 1,868 units in the same month of 2016. The sales of trucks declined by 14.8%, where 2,407 trucks were sold, compared to 2,826 trucks. AMIC's report showed a decline in sales since early 2017 until late August by 39%, reaching 83,887 units in 2017, compared to 137,594 in 2016. The sales of passenger cars declined by 38%, recording 59,928, compared to 97,401 cars.
