It only took 3+ years, but El Nasr Auto might finally be ready to finalize contracts for EV assembly: El Nasr Automotive expects to sign final contracts to produce electric vehicles with an unnamed Chinese company in mid-October, Al Borsa reported yesterday, citing an anonymous source at the company. The report came hours after Public Enterprise Minister Mahmoud Esmat held a meeting to review the status of the negotiations between El Nasr and a Chinese auto firm. The ministry was tight-lipped on the identity of the Chinese firm and when the contracts would be signed in its statement (pdf).

So who’s the Chinese company? It’s likely BAIC Group, which we were told in June had signed an MoU with El Nasr for the production of EVs. At the time production was expected to begin in the middle of 2023 with the aim of putting out the first EVs on the market by 4Q 2023.

FEV is reportedly bringing the blueprints: State-owned El Nasr is reviewing designs for electric sedans from German vehicle designer FEV ahead of signing the contracts, Al Borsa’s source said.

Finally, the endgame? El Nasr has been in talks with foreign companies to partner on an EV project for years. The company had entered negotiations with Chinese auto giant Dongfeng back in 2019 only to pull out more than two years later apparently because the two sides were unable to agree on prices for imported components. We had more in our weekly Going Green vertical on the renewables industry.