'Let it Rust' reduces cars prices by 30%: campaign spokesperson

CAIRO – 28 July 2019: Cars purchase boycott campaign “let it rust” has reduced car prices by up to 30 percent, ranging from LE 50,000 to LE 150,000, depending on the car type, spokesperson of the campaign Mohamed Shata said Saturday.

Shata added during a TV program that the Chinese company "MG" lowered the price of its cars by LE 70,000 as a result of the boycott the campaign, coupled with the decline in the value of the dollar, and the reluctance of the agencies to import new shipments.

The spokesman expected the disappearance of Chinese cars from the Egyptian market during the coming period because of the low safety factor, in addition to strong competition with European cars.

Meanwhile, General Manager of Brilliance Egypt and agent of Brilliance China Khalid Saad told Enterprise earlier that Brilliance Auto intends to reassemble its cars in Egypt starting from the first quarter of 2020 with investments of $120 million, adding that the company will begin temporarily manufacturing on BMW assembly lines, which is the parent company of Brilliance, until a new plant is built.

Moreover, Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar held a meeting during July with the delegation of China's Dongfeng Automobile Company, headed by Vice President of the company Li Zhengrong.

Nassar said that the company is seriously considering the production of electric cars in Egypt with the aim of using them for transportation purposes in government agencies and taxis, with the possibility of exporting these cars later to the markets of European countries after increasing the proportion of the local component and raising the value added.

The monthly bulletin of the Automotive Market Information Council (AMIC) revealed that 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.

"Let It Rust" is a social-media campaign protesting high car prices; it appeared after the zero tariffs on European cars.

Egypt started implementing the trade cooperation agreement with the European Union in 2010, so European car customs have begun to decline gradually. Egypt used the right to postpone the reduction twice in previous years.

By the start of 2019, customs were reduced to hit 0 percent for all cars of all engine capacities entering from the EU. Among these are Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volvo, Peugeot, Renault, French-origin Citroen, Fiat and Siat.