Automotive market sales fall 8.5% in 5 months

CAIRO – 1 July 2019: Sales of the automotive market dropped 8.5 percent during the first five months of 2019, recording 60,207 vehicles, compared to 63,948 vehicles in the same months of 2018, according to the monthly bulletin of the Automotive Market Information Council (AMIC) issued Monday.

AMIC said that passenger car sales dropped 10 percent to 41,154 cars, compared to 45,837 cars in the same month of 2017.

On the other hand, bus sales rose 3.6 percent on a year-on-year basis to 5,690 buses, and truck sales climbed 5.8 percent to 13,363 trucks, according to the report.

Observers believe that the decline in sales in the passenger car sector during this period comes as a result of the slowdown caused by the reluctance of a sector of consumers to buy on the back of calls to halt purchase until the reduction of car dealers margins, which is a campaign called “let it rust”.

On “let it rust”, auto expert and editor-in-chief of Auto Arabia Mohammed Shata questioned earlier the accuracy of AMIC's data and described the car market as completely paralyzed.

He stressed in a TV program that the campaign "let it rust" had a significant role in the decline in car sales.

During the program, Head of the General Division of cars in the Federation of Chambers of Commerce Omar Balbaa said that there is regression in the car market, adding that the decline of the custom dollar is expected to move the car market.

In the first four months of 2019, car sales declined 5 percent on a year-on-year basis. AMIC announced earlier that total sales in January fell 5.2 percent, reaching 10,857 units, compared to 11,454 units in the same month of 2018.