With the accelerated pace of Chinese automakers' entry into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Egyptian market has become a new hotspot for Chinese automakers' overseas expansion.
On December 29, 2024, China's SAIC Group signed a strategic technical cooperation agreement with Egypt's Mansour Group, marking that China's SAIC Group will carry out the local production and assembly of MG-branded vehicles in Egypt, further deepening the layout of Chinese automakers in the Egyptian market.
1. SAIC announces plant in Egypt
On December 29, 2024, Chinese automaker SAIC Group and Egyptian multinational conglomerate Mansour Group officially signed a strategic technical cooperation agreement that will see the two companies carry out the local production and assembly of MG-branded vehicles in Egypt.
As a key player in the global automotive market, SAIC has steadily pushed forward its internationalization strategy and has established a complete automotive value chain including R&D centers, production bases, marketing centers, supply chain centers, and financial service centers in more than 100 countries and regions.
In 2023, China SAIC's overseas sales exceeded 1.2 million units, showing its strong competitiveness in the international market.
Under this new cooperation agreement, Mansour Group will produce the next-generation MG5 sedan at its new greenfield plant.
In the future, the two companies plan to expand production to SUVs and new energy models, including pure electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
This cooperation will not only enrich the automotive product line in the Egyptian market, but also promote the popularization of new energy vehicles in Egypt.
The agreement also shows that Mansour Manufacturing and Mobility Company (MMM), a subsidiary of Mansour Group, has reached a land lease agreement with the General Authority for Land and Dry Port Logistics Zone.
The modernized factory will be built in the Sixth of October Industrial Park, with an initial capacity of 50,000 vehicles per year, which will be doubled to 100,000 vehicles upon completion of the second phase.
The plant, which aims to achieve a localization rate of over 45%, will have a streamlined and efficient layout, including an 8,000 square meter body shop, a 12,000 square meter state-of-the-art paint shop, a 10,000 square meter final assembly shop, as well as auxiliary facilities such as an administration building and a 5,000 square meter warehouse.
2. SAIC's early announcement to set up a plant in Egypt
It is worth noting that before SAIC, China's BAIC Group also announced plans to establish an automobile manufacturing base in Egypt.
On October 29, 2024, BAIC officially signed an agreement to build an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Egypt, marking an important step for China's new energy vehicles in the MENA region.
Alkan Auto, a subsidiary of the Egyptian International Motor Group (EIM Group), and Chinese automaker BAIC Group officially signed an agreement to jointly build an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in Egypt.
This cooperative project aims to meet the growing domestic demand for electric vehicles in Egypt and to radiate the Middle East and African markets.
Under the agreement, the 120,000-square-meter electric vehicle plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2025. Site selection and planning work is underway to ensure that the project will be completed and put into production on time.
In terms of capacity planning, the plant plans to produce 20,000 electric vehicles within the first year of operation to meet the Egyptian market and export demand.With the optimization of production lines and market expansion, the plant aims to reach an annual production capacity of 50,000 electric vehicles by the end of the fifth year.
3. Chinese Companies Accelerate Layout in Egypt
Recently, Chinese car companies have been making a lot of moves in the Egyptian market, showing their strong interest and confidence in this emerging market.
It was reported in September 2024 that Al Amal Auto, BYD's local agent, was actively negotiating with the Egyptian Ministry of Industry to plan the local production of two new models - a hybrid and a gasoline-powered vehicle.
This move will not only enrich BYD's product line in Egypt, but also marks the deepening of its localization strategy in the Egyptian market.
Meanwhile, China's Guangzhou Dayun Automobile is also actively planning to expand its business in Egypt.Its motorized tricycles and motorcycles have become a beautiful sight on Egyptian roads, the company said in a statement issued in Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone.
On this basis, Guangzhou DYX hopes to further expand the range of vehicles assembled locally to cover passenger cars, light transportation vehicles and trucks.
Particularly notable is the company's plan to build its locally-assembled passenger cars as electric vehicles, in response to the global trend of new energy vehicles and the Egyptian market's demand for environmental protection.
In addition, Kasrawy Group, a local Egyptian automaker, is also actively seeking cooperation with Chinese automakers.The company is reportedly planning to locally assemble models from China's Jetway and JAC to enrich its product line and enhance market competitiveness.
Currently, the Egyptian government is allocating land for Kasrawy Group to support the construction of a new factory, thus promoting the implementation of this cooperative project.
This series of developments shows that the layout of Chinese car companies in the Egyptian market is accelerating, and localized production has become an important strategy for them to expand the market.
Through localized production, Chinese automakers are not only able to reduce production costs and improve the cost-effectiveness of their products, but also better meet the diversified needs of the Egyptian market, further consolidating and expanding their market share.
With the entry of SAIC, BAIC and other Chinese car companies, the competition pattern in Egypt and the Middle East auto market may usher in new changes.
Senior Writer The quest for automotive knowledge began as soon as the earliest memories. Various sources information, even questionable ones, have been explored including video games, television, magazines, or even internet forums. Still stuck in that rabbit hole.
