Egyptian car sales surge in February

New figures show vehicle sales up 160 per cent on the same period last year, when business activity stalled during the height of the country's uprising. Egyptian automobile sales rocketed 160 per cent in February over the same period the year before when anti-Mubarak protests were at their height, recent figures show. Car sales reached 13,800 in February 2012, according to statistics released by the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC). Early February 2011 was the most dramatic point in an uprising that eventually forced Hosni Mubarak from power, with business activity coming to a near-complete halt. It was this low base of comparison that accounts for this year’s surge, according to a note from investment bank Beltone Financial. Personal car sales saw the greatest growth, with 9,998 units sold – a 219 per cent climb on the year before. The overall automobile market has seen year-on-year growth of 29 per cent for 2012 to date, with 26,034 units sold. Personal car sales saw an annual growth of 33 per cent in this year to date, with 18,749 units sold. Egypt's only listed car maker, GB Auto, continues to lead the market, with its Hyundai brand accounting for 29.3 per cent of 2012’s sales. Ghabbour, the agent and assembler of Hyundai vehicles in Egypt, finished 2011 with the leading share in the passenger car market at 32 per cent, up from 28 per cent in 2010. Egyptian automobile sales fell an annual 30 per cent in 2011 to 176,157 vehicles, as political turbulence and an economic downturn took their toll. From: Ahram online