MTI, the exclusive agent for Jaguar and Land Rover in Egypt, has organised a driving test for the company’s customers and media professionals over the last three days to try the company’s products for 2018, which will appear for the first time during this event.
The company has organised the driving test on all its cars to identify their various capabilities and new technology that was added in some models, especially safety measures.
The global parent company always organises the same tests all over the world at the same time.
Islam Tawfek, General Manager of Sales and Marketing at MTI, said that the parent company pays special interest to its customers, adding that it offers such driving tests for its current and new customers who want to acquire different models of the company’s vehicles. He noted that the event is mainly concerned with safety factors.
The company has been promoting its products in the North Coast every year, but this year it is holding the event in Porto Marina.
Tawfek said that this year’s event is completely different from previous years, as new models will be released for the first time, and there is another conceding world event for Jaguar and Land Rover models, dubbed “Land Marketing”.
He added that the company chose Porto Marina because it matches with the safety and security rules that are placed by the international company for such tests.
Porto Marina also offers a large space, which allows drivers to show the cars’ different capabilities.
The global team of drivers has demonstrated the concepts of smooth driving with large SUVs in an attempt to change the misconception about the difficulty of driving these kinds of cars in crowded cities.
Therefore, the team chose this place to reflect the smoothness of driving this category of vehicle, which offers high technology and a highly responsive steering wheel in curves and rotations in the narrowest areas.
The test trail was chosen carefully to indicate the ability of the models in exceptional driving conditions.
In order to measure the quality of the brakes, the testers were asked to use the brakes only at the maximum speed and in a narrow area.
These measures will show that driving the large SUVs, which MTI represents in Egypt, has become very smooth.
The trail built for Jaguar basically aims to show the cars’ abilities in the most difficult of situations that may be experienced in daily life and how to avoid them in a timely manner.
The team also focused on the quality of brakes and the period required for the car to stop completely, which is one of the most prominent features of Jaguar cars.
Tawfek said that the company intends to release the Jaguar F-Pace in the near future with a 2.0-liter engine, at a price of EGP 1.95 million.
He added that the Egyptian auto sector has been affected significantly and witnessed a severe decline in sales due to the high prices of vehicles after the flotation of the pound.
“The market will return to its normal condition through the outstanding monetary policy announced by the government, which will bear fruit in the near future,” said Tawfek.
He added that the company’s sales achieved slight growth rates compared to last year.
Tawfek was asked if his company benefited from the decision to float the local currency and if it led to an increase in sales.
He said, “Actually, yes. Perhaps because the large increase in prices made the cars’ prices very close, especially in [the SUV] category, and the customer now chooses his car according to new criteria that did not exist in the past, which led to an increase in demand for our products.”
Tawfek added that the parent company has provided cars with 2,000cc engines in the last few years, which led to increasing the demand and strengthening competition in the Egyptian market.
He pointed out that it is difficult for the parent company to abandon its factories and establish new production lines inside Egypt, although it can supply some parts; however, this will not happen as easily as some expect. It is very complicated and the company’s conditions are difficult.
On the other hand, Tawfek asserted that MTI cares about its customers and recently opened a pilot service centre in Katameya, which will officially be opened in the near future and will be accompanied by a new showroom equipped with the latest global systems.
Regarding the replacement policy, he said that the company accepts replacing the cars, stressing that this system has recently been developed under the management of Abdel Kader Talaat to satisfy all customers of the company.
