(DNE Photo)
By Mohamed Amer
The Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC) revealed a 17% increase in automotive sales in January and February 2015, compared to the same time last year.
Sales in those two months were 46,700 cars, as opposed to 39,900 units in the same period in 2014. The sale of private cars has increased to 31,700 cars in January and February 2015, as opposed to 26,900 units in the same period in 2014.
Truck sales increased by 13%, as 9,500 trucks were sold in the first two months of this year as opposed to 6,400 last year. Bus sales have also increased to 5,500 units from 4,500, with a 21% growth.
Imported cars sales outperformed their locally assembled counterparts, as the former sold 24,800 cars while the latter sold 21,800 cars.
AMIC’s indicators revealed a decrease in consumers’ demands on locally assembled cars in January and February, and their purchase rates dropped 27%. Sales of completely imported cars witnessed a 42.9% increase, with the sale of 14,800 units, as opposed to 17,300 cars in the same period in 2014.
Chevrolet is at the forefront of the market, with total sales of 10,800 cars to control 23% of the market. This was followed by Hyundai with a total of 8,300 cars sold, then Toyota with 4,700 cars, and Nissan came fourth with the sale of 3,500 cars.
These were followed by Kia with a total of 2,700 cars; Suzuki with 2,600 cars; Skoda which sold 1,800 cars; while Mitsubishi came in eighth place with total sales of 1,600 cars; then Renault with 1,500 cars.
Geely Ghabbour saw sales decline to 1,200 cars, compared to 2,600 cars in the same time last year. According to the report, South Korean cars witnessed a 37% increase, as 11,000 cars were sold as opposed to 7,600 cars in January and February 2014.
Chinese cars sales declined to 2,700 cars in January and February 2015, as opposed to 4,000 cars in the same two months in 2014 as a result of the acute decline in Geely sales.
Hyundai sold 8,200 cars in January and February 2015 to occupy the first place in the private car sales market, followed by Chevrolet with a total of 3,600 cars, while Kia sold 2,700 and came in third place , followed by Nissan in fourth place with 2,600 cars, and Toyota came fifth with 2,600 cars, and Skoda with 1,700 cars, Renault with 1,500 cars, Mitsubishi with 1,400 cars, Geely came in ninth with 1,200 cars and Suzuki came in tenth with 1,100 cars.
In the detailed view of the private car market, sales in January and February 2015 reached EGP 4.8bn according to current pricing.
AMIC data came according to a study it conducted on 99% of total sales of private cars sold in January and February 2015, with a total of 31,500 cars.
According to the study, the 1600cc sales got the highest share with about 41.9% of the market, with a total value of about EGP 2bn. This was followed by the 1300cc to 1500cc group, with a total value of 21.1%, then 15.6% for SUVs of less than 2 litres, with a total value of EGP 755m, and about 15% for SUVs of more than 2 litres with a total value of EGP 725m.
Cars between 1 litre-1.3 litres acquired 3.9% of the market with a total sales value of EGP 189.2m, followed by the category of 1.6 litres to 2 litres with total value of EGP 95m, and a market share of 2%. The category of 1 litre cars came equal to that of less than 1 litre, with a total sales value between EGP 14m and 15m, with a market share of 0.3%.
According to the AMIC’s study, the total sales value in February amounted for EGP 2.4bn.
According to pricing rates, the most demanded cars were those between EGP 90,000 and EGP 120,000, with total sales of 7,100 cars, followed by cars between EGP 70,000 and EGP 90,000 that reached 7,000 cars, while cars between EGP 150,000 and EGP 200,000 sold 6,800 cars.
As for the category of cars between EGP 120,000 and EGP 150,000, it sold 5,000 cars in two months, and the category of between EGP 200,000 and EGP 300,000 sold 3,400 cars, while the rest of the categories sold less than 1,000 cars, 527 cars of which were less than EGP 70,000, and 433 cars between EGP 300,000 and EGP 400,000, and 960 cars for more than EGP 400,000.
