Auto importers are fighting the Automotive Directive: Car and truck importers are still looking to delay the inevitable passage of the Automotive Directive by haggling over the fine print and framework for raising domestic components in auto assembly. At issue now: They’re demanding the Trade and Industry Ministry revisit the definition of what constitutes a locally manufactured car part; the ministry had proposed a requirement that a part would need 20% local content to qualify, Brilliance Bavarian’s deputy general manager Khaled Saad tells Al Shorouk. His statements come following a meeting between the Egyptian Automotive Manufacturers Association, which has sided with importers in the debate on the law, and the ministry.

When will the Germans end their consulting on the law? Ministry officials apparently said at the meetings that the legislation, which hopes to reward assemblers who move up the value chain to manufacturing with incentives, is still with the shadowy German consultancy. The Ismail government has until 1 January to pass the law before customs on imports from the EU fall to zero, threatening to shut down the domestic assembly industry.