Is Renault looking to open an assembly line in Egypt? A delegation from French multinational Groupe Renault is in Egypt to meet with its local distributor, Egyptian International Motors (EIM), to explore the possibility of assembling cars in Egypt, Al Mal reports.

Car importers trying to adapt to the coming of the Automotive Directive? Sources at EIM tell the newspaper the move, which is still being studied by Renault, comes as EIM plans to transform from being a pure importer to a local assembler — a sign that the company sees the writing on the wall with the coming of the Automotive Directive this year. The news comes as Kia Motors and its local distributor signed contracts for a EGP 4.2 bn assembly facility on Monday.

And there are now 292 days left until existing auto assembly plants shut down on 1 January 2019 when customs on European Union assembled cars fall to zero. The protections for domestic industry proposed by the automotive directive could position Egypt to emerge as the region’s assembly and export hub. Failing to pass it would be an effective acknowledgement that we care more about German jobs and businesses than we do about companies and workers in Egypt. As we said yesterday: This is a debate worth having, and one on which the government should lead.