Egypt’s auto sector deftly managed the global chip shortage in 2021 as strong demand pushed sales to their highest levels since the EGP float in 2016. Industry figures out yesterday showed that almost 291k new vehicles were sold last year, up 26% from 2020, despite rising prices caused by shortage of many models (thank you, chip shortage) and higher shipping costs. Sales of new passenger cars rose 28% to 215k, while truck sales were up 35% to 50k, according to data released by the Automobile Market Information Council (AMIC).

Sales were up in December: AMIC reported 22.2k cars sold in December, up 12% from November's sales and up 9.7% from December 2020. Bus sales rose 8.7% from the same month last year, while truck sales saw a slight dip of 2.6% in comparison to December 2020.

The figures don’t tell the whole story: A top exec at one of the country’s largest distributors has previously told us it is “day to day” when it comes to availability of many models — explaining that it is unlikely that supply of most brands will improve significantly before mid-2022 or later. The culprit remains shortages of the chips used in modern vehicles. Distributors are also facing pressure on pricing from rising freight costs as part of the Great Global Supply Chain Snarl — and will need to pass those on to consumers.