Egyptian car market was hit by price increase in 2019 which broke the recovery gained in earlier periods, according to a report by global automotive market intelligence and consulting firm Focus2move. The total car sales in 2019 reached 178.699 units, down 12.9%, while the prospects for 2020 remain uncertain. Three brands accounted for 50% of the market: Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Nissan. After the Egyptian automotive industry had achieved an increase in sales in 2014 and 2015, a recession hit the market in 2016 and 2017. The report attributed the recession to several reasons, mainly flotation of Egyptian pound, price increase of new cars, rising interest rates, successive jumps in fuel prices as the government decreased fuel subsidies to control budgetary expenditures. Moreover, the value-added tax increased in 2017. As a result, there was an unprecedented drop in demand in 2017, so car sales fell to 137,821 units, down 36% from 2016. In 2018, the tremendous pressure on car prices was reduced, and the positive economic trend led to a recovery. According to the Egyptian Automobile Manufacturers Association, the market concluded that year with 193,000 sales. In 2019, the market was once again affected by price increase. The year ended with a sales decline, as 178.699 units were sold, down 12.9%. In the competitive landscape, two brands fight each year for the market leadership. Last year, Chevrolet prevailed over Hyundai with a large gap. Both brands achieved a combined market share of 36.3%, while Nissan accounted for 13.7% of total sales. The three brands together dominated 50% of the market. On a global level in terms of passenger cars, China achieved sales of 20.38m units in 2019, a decrease of 9.4% compared to 2018, ranking first globally and in Asia. The United States came second with 14.16m sales (down 1.4%), followed by Japan with 3.66m sales (down 1.2%). Germany ranked fourth with 3.3m sales (up 4.7%). Brazil came seventh globally and first in South America with 2.18m sales. In Africa, South Africa ranked first in the continent and 23rd globally with 429.500 sales, a large gap with second-placed Egypt. Saudi Arabia achieved the highest Arab car sales and ranked 24th globally. For the most countries with year-over-year sales decline, Argentina came first globally (down 43%) in 2019, recording 408.100 sales, followed by Iran with 639.900 sales (down 41.8%), and Turkey with 303.600 sales (down 37.4%). As for the countries with the highest growth in car sales, Mayotte had the lion's share, with sales amounting to 59.600 (up 4038.8%). Iraq recorded the second largest growth in passenger car sales (45.9%) with total sales of 65.770 units, followed by Vietnam (23.3%) with 245.700 sales. Global sales of passenger cars in 2019 amounted to 88.8m units, down 3.7m from 2018. China and US combined accounted for 38.85% of the global car sales.
