Auto parts manufacturers said to be in talks with Renault, Volkswagen to make and export parts to regional assembly facilities: Local auto parts producers are in talks with European car makers, including Renault and Volkswagen, to begin making and exporting parts for production and assembly facilities across the region, Egyptian Auto Feeders Association Development Director Ihab Aboul Enein tells Al Mal. VW has already tapped three Egyptian manufacturers — IDACO, MOBICA, and El Teriak Industrial Group — and talks are ongoing with Renault. A delegation from the French multinational group was in town last week to meet with its local distributor, Egyptian International Motors (EIM), to explore the possibility of assembling cars in Egypt.

Meanwhile, El Assal for Auto Parts will invest EGP 50 mn this year in a local production facility that will make a range of mechanical parts for Kia and Mitsubishi cars, Chairman Mahmoud El Assal also tells the newspaper. The company should finish feasibility and technical studies next month, he says. Kia Motors had signed an agreement with Egyptian International Trading & Agencies last week that will see them invest EGP 4.2 bn over the next five years in a new local assembly line, which Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil said was part of a wave of positive news to the industry as the government pushes ahead with issuing the Automotive Directive some time this year. The bill, which means to encourage assemblers to move further up the value chain into manufacturing, has faced several delays due to the clashing interests of various auto industry players (mainly assemblers and importers). Most recently, the government had been trying to push the minimum local component requirements in the bill.

In related news, the local partner for China’s BYD, Al Amal, said it plans to assemble 600 cars of the company’s S5 model between now and the end of 2018. The first batch of locally assembled vehicles will be made available to distributors by the end of the month, an unnamed company executive tells Al Mal.