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Egypt: car manufacturers halt imports over debts

May 25, 2022 at 8:40 am

Robots work on the assembly line on May 20, 2022 [DAVID HECKER/AFP via Getty Images]

Officials in Cairo confirmed yesterday that a number of international car manufacturers are planning to halt production and exports to the Egyptian market due to the failure of local distributors to pay their invoices on time.

A local distributor told Al-Mal that the agents of European vehicle manufacturers, including “Citroen, Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat, Audi, Peugeot, Fiat and DS Automobiles,” had notified their Egyptian distributors of their “plans to reduce” the number of vehicles sent to Egypt. The distributor warned that “a widening gap between supply and demand” is now expected in the country.

Car distributors in Egypt face difficulties in managing import documentary credits from banks after recent measures imposed by the Central Bank.

In a similar context, Japan’s Toyota Company has said that it will cut its global annual production plan to 850,000 vehicles in June “due to a shortage of semiconductors”. Toyota added that it would cut its domestic production lines “due to supply shortages caused by the Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai.”

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