By Ahmed Amer
Mansour Chevrolet launched its new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze in the presence of General Motors (GM) Egypt & North Africa Managing Director Tarek Atta, Mansour Chevrolet General Manager Adel Khedr, and head of sales and after-sales service and marketing for Mansour Company Lotfy Mansour.
During the ceremony, the company plans to pump EGP 700m over the next three years, Adel Khadr said and that the investments are to establish new service centers and to expand with the after-sales service.
The company targets the expansion of the establishment of new service centers in the governorates of Upper Egypt and the Delta. It also targets expanding in Cairo and Giza, where the company now has over 30 authorized service centers in the various governorates.
Khedr said the company’s investments have been rising this year and that two service centers opened last month in Smouha in Alexandria and Sheikh Zayed in 6th of October City.
Khedr said a new world-class training center is currently being rehabilitated to offer the best services and improve the performance of the company’s employees. This will be a new start and change in the concept of the artwork in the automotive sector in Egypt.
This year is the company’s most active year, Khedr said, since Mansour Chevrolet was able to cover all segments and requirements of the automotive market.
Throughout the years of cooperation between Mansour Automotive and General Motors in Egypt, they were able to achieve a series of successes that drove them towards leading the Egyptian Automotive market.
On the status of the auto sector, Khedr confirmed that the car market is awaiting the issuance of new laws governing the Egyptian industry after the parliament elections. These new laws will move the industry forward and add to the importance of supporting the industry and the economic system after the completion of the formation of the House of Representatives.
He said Chevrolet sales accounts for 24% of the market, which the company seeks to maintain in 2016.
The decline in sales at the annual level of Chevrolet that appears on the monthly reports of the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC) was caused by the decline in components imported for manufacturing, in addition to the dollar crisis.
The new Chevrolet Cruze 2016 will be available in two categories at prices of EGP 148,000 and EGP 157,000. Khedr expressed his optimism with the model sales in the upcoming period.
He said 16 new specifications have been introduced to the model, including the exterior and interior designs and technical parts.
The Cruze was able to achieve sales of over 3.5m units since its launch.
Atta told Daily News Egypt the decline in Chevrolet sales according to the AMIC monthly report is very limited and will not affect the company’s sales top ranking in the market.
Atta added that the Chevrolet’s continuous lead in the domestic market sales depends on manufacturing process in General Motors (GM) factory. This requires importing automotive components, especially private automotives, and here lies the consequences of the dollar crisis.
He said GM Egypt works on balancing the manufacturing and distribution operations of transport, private and pick-up vehicles, in addition to the bus manufacturing to meet customer needs.
There is no intention to manufacture the new Cruze locally. “We believe, as manufacturers, that the awaited automotive industry strategy will depend on focusing on local manufacturing but the state has to support the industry to create real competition,” Atta said.
The automotive industry strategy was scheduled to be issued before the cabinet reshuffle. However, after the dismissal of former prime minister Ibrahim Mehleb’s government and the formation of a new government headed by Sherif Ismail, no one knows the fate of the strategy, when it will be issued, or what the priorities of the new ministry are.
Atta told Daily News Egypt he will meet Minister of Industry and Industry Tarek Qabil to know his vision about the automotive industry, the future of the strategy, and to present GM’s activity in Egypt and what it intends to invest in during the next period.
Atta said GM plans to pump new investments in Egypt to increase its factory production capacity and launch new models. The company in Egypt prepares to expand in the field of exporting: it already began exporting buses to Saudi Arabia, and it will expand to South Africa and Vietnam.
Cruze 2016 is equipped with new advanced gearbox, electric side mirrors with indicators, and its 16-liter, 116 horsepower engine. The car has also 40 cm sports wheels.
Chevrolet Cruze was able to double its sales this year, where it sold 1,135 units in the first eight months of the current year, compared to 583 units in the same period in 2014.
