The surge, fuelled by fresh investments, expanded production lines, and falling prices, points to a rebound in consumer demand and Egypt’s potential emergence as a regional hub for car manufacturing.
Sales rose by 96.9 percent year on year to 74,490 units in the first six months of 2025, compared with 37,830 a year earlier, according to the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC).
Growth was spread across all categories: passenger cars up 97 percent, buses up 49.7 percent, and trucks up 118.7 percent.
Local assembly leads the market
Former executive director of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, Hussein Mostafa, told Ahram Online that “locally assembled cars have outperformed imports for the first time in many years.”
He attributed the shift to expanded local production lines and new factories, some already in operation and others nearing completion.
“The market has also seen the entry of new agencies offering both economy and luxury brands, which boosted competition and drove down prices by 15 precent to 20 percent,” Mostafa said.
Some brands, he added, cut sticker prices by EGP 100,000 to 300,000. While limited compared with peak levels, the reductions signal a market entering a “rebalancing phase”.
Room for growth
Raafat Masrouga, honorary chair of AMIC, said the rebound still leaves “significant room for growth”.
“In the past, annual sales reached 300,000 units,” he told Ahram Online. “Today, it makes sense for this number to grow to 600,000–700,000 units annually, and potentially one million units by 2030,” he told Ahram Online.
Masrouga pointed to the recent stability of the Egyptian pound as a factor strengthening investor and dealer confidence. “We are now witnessing genuine car pricing, after the volatility of the US dollar had previously led to exaggerated markups,” he said.
The pound has appreciated by about 3.5 percent against the dollar since December, when the exchange rate briefly topped EGP 50 to the dollar. The dollar is now at its lowest level against the Egyptian currency in almost a year.
Masrouga also underlined that the rebound fits the principle of price elasticity of demand: “When prices rise by 10 percent, demand falls by 15 percent. Conversely, when prices drop, buyers flock to the market.”
Shifting consumer preferences
Chinese brands dominated passenger vehicle sales in the first half of 2025, with 21,400 units sold – a 130 percent increase on last year.
Japanese brands rose 23.3 percent, Korean brands 68 percent, and European brands surged 303 percent to 8,500 units.
The sharpest jump came from American cars, whose sales leapt 939 percent, from 303 units to more than 3,100 in six months.
Across the total market – passenger cars, buses and trucks combined – Chevrolet led with an 18.1 percent share, followed by Nissan (13.5 percent) and Chery (10.9 percent).
For passenger cars alone, Nissan remained in front at 17.2 percent, down from 22 percent a year earlier, trailed by Chery Ghabbour (14.1 percent), Hyundai (13.3 percent) and MG (12.2 percent).
Policy and investment pay off
Mostafa and Masrouga stressed that the pivot towards local manufacturing is the result of sustained policy measures and new investment.
Assembly lines at GB Auto, Nissan and Mansour have been expanded, while global players including BYD, Jetour, Changan and Haval have entered the market, some with plans for local assembly in the coming years.
They said continuing this trajectory would cut reliance on imports, underpin long-term stability and position Egypt as a regional hub for automotive production and exports.
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