Egypt: "Let it rust" campaign for lowering new car prices

According to a media report, a new movement to boycott new car purchases is taking place in Egypt. The campaign, which is called "Let it rust", aims to curb price hikes, which have put car purchases beyond the budget of most citizens.

It is reported that car sales in the country fell to 11,460  units in January 2019 from 19,804 in December 2018 - a decline of 42%. The YoY growth for the same month is 10.8%, which is far less than the average monthly figure of 39.3% in the period between 2017 and 2018.

Though the "Let it rust" movement started several years ago, the Egyptian government’s reduction on duties for cars imported from Europe to zero earlier this year was when the campaign gaining traction. It is reported that despite this, the car dealers have hiked prices more than expected as the Egyptian pound (E£) was sharply devalued against the US dollar in November 2016.

The cost of the popular cars in Egypt is around E£ 2,50,000-3,50,000, which translates to US$ 11,500-20,000. This is almost 10 times the annual salary of a government employee who takes home about E£ 3,000 every month.

Source: Autoblog