The Madbouly government yesterday launched three key bodies that will work to implement its long-anticipated national automotive strategy, according to a cabinet statement. It’s a step forward for plans to localize car component manufacturing and vehicle assembly. The Supreme Council for Vehicle Manufacturing and a fund to provide incentives for greener vehicles are now real after the House of Representatives approved their establishment in October, while the Trade and Industry Ministry launched a new unit dedicated to auto localization plans.

AND- Stellantis, Nissan, and Al Mansour Automotive are on board: Authorities also signed framework agreements with the local and global automakers on localizing their assembly operations, according to a separate cabinet statement. While details on the agreements were scarce, they aim to “achieve binding cooperation between the government and the companies towards the goals of the AIDP,” working with all three of the new automotive bodies as well as state investment body GAFI.

So are our friends at Shift EV: Shift EV attended the first meeting of the Supreme Council for Vehicle Manufacturing, where they proposed offering a temporary green incentive for the first 10k traditional vehicles converted to run on electricity. The startup converts standard petrol-fueled vehicles into EVs using a proprietary made-in-Egypt battery technology. PM Madbouly recently visited the Shift EV factory.

REMEMBER- The government is working to launch its automotive strategy AKA the Automotive Industry Development Program (AIDP). AIDP will provide incentives to carmakers in a bid to increase local assembly and component manufacturing here, up the sector’s competitiveness to become a regional manufacturing hub, and bolster export volumes.

STRAIGHT DOWN TO BUSINESS-

#1- The Supreme Council for Vehicle Manufacturing got down to business in its inaugural meeting yesterday. The council will draft policies, strategies, regulation and legislation governing the wider automotive industry, including EVs.

Private sector players join the council: Four independent experts have been appointed by the Trade and Industry Minister to join the Supreme Council. They are:

• Nissan Egypt Managing Director Mike Whitfield (LinkedIn);
• Local auto parts manufacturer AutoTec Managing Director Hossam Abdelaziz, who also sits on the board of the state-owned Metallurgical Industries Holding Company;
• African Association of Automotive Manufacturers Vice President Ahmed Fikry A. Wahab (LinkedIn), who is also MD of Egyptian German Automotive and chairman of FAW Industrial Group;
• and Ihab Awad (LinkedIn), general manager for German exhaust system manufacturer Boysen’s Egypt operations.

The council is chaired by Madbouly and also includes several cabinet ministers, as well as representatives from the Customs Authority, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and other state authorities.

#2- The board of the fund that will offer incentives for greener vehicle production was formed yesterday. The Environmentally Friendly Car Production Fund is designed to help develop the domestic production of environmentally friendly cars, including putting in place incentive programs to encourage innovation and otherwise make the sector competitive. Its purview includes electric vehicles, dual-fuel, and other hybrid cars.

#3- The Trade and Industry Ministry’s new auto industry unit was also launched yesterday. The unit will develop the mechanism to calculate incentives for local manufacturers under AIDP, based on the value added by a company’s local activities, annual production volumes, the value of new investments, and the environmental credentials of its products. It will also take the lead on accreditation and eligibility guidelines for automakers joining AIDP.