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Indications have emerged that the German luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, may be considering a return to the Egyptian market two years after its exit in 2015, according to a report by Enterprise, an Egyptian online news platform.
Mercedes-Benz local partners, Egyptian-German Automotive (EGA), had suspended activities finally at its factories in 2015 after moving to neighbouring Algeria which provided better incentives for local assembly plants.
The luxury brand with three-pointed star has been importing fully built vehicles into the country since then as a result of reduced tariffs made possible by an EU-Egypt trade liberalisation pact.
But citing a statement by the Suez Canal Development Authority (SCZone) as “picked up by Al Shorouk,” another online news platform, Enterprise reports that Mercedes-Benz has agreed “in principle” to return to Egypt after foreign exchange challenges forced it to shut down its assembling plant in the country.
Al Shorouk, while citing a statement from the Suez Canal Zone (SCZ), said the agreement to return to Egypt was taken after a meeting, last week, between Mercedes-Benz officials and a delegation from the SCZ led by the Head of SCZ, Mohab Mamish, on the fringes of the ongoing 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.
Al Shorouk said Mercedes-Benz thereafter agreed “in principle” with the Egyptian delegation to return by establishing a distribution and logistics centre in the Ain Sokna area of the Suez Canal economic zone.
However, Mercedes-Benz is yet to make any official confirmation of the new plan.
