New Decline Wave Awaits Car Prices in Egypt

Analysts expect a further decline in vehicle prices by more than 4 percent during the coming period.

This coincides with the decline in the price of customs dollar rate, particularly for vehicles within capacities ranging from 1300-1600 CC, prices are expected to fall sharply.

Earlier this year, the price of the dollar exchange rate observed a decline of more than EGP 1.1 to record an average of EGP 16.71 for purchase and EGP 16.81 for sale on Tuesday.

Alaa El-Sabaa, member of the General Automobile Division in the Federation of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) said that the current prices of cars dropped between 8-20 percent depending on the engine's capacity.

He attributed the decline to the drop of the US currency in the Egyptian market, followed by a drop in the customs dollar reaching EGP 16.86.

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance has set the price of the customs dollar for June at EGP 16 for essential commodities and EGP 16.86 for non-essential ones.

Meantime, car agents and distributors have reduced prices by up to 8 percent for cars ranging between 1300-1600 CC, and around 20 percent in models exceeding 2,000 CC.

El-Sabaa predicted another 4 percent decline in prices of vehicles if the dollar continues to drop reaching EGP 16.

The customs on European cars reached zero percent this year, however, that was not reflected on sales prices in the domestic market. last January a campaign entitled "Khaliha Tsadi"  that was organized with the aim of boycotting the purchase of cars to face the rising prices.

No reduction is expected  in the prices of European cars, however, ones of Korean origin, which were greatly affected after the announcement of the exemption of the latter from customs, are expected to drop.