The new year of 2018 is looking promising as far as the automotive industry in the Arab world is concerned. June 2018 is the month to watch as an Emarati firm going by the name Sandstorm Automotive LLC will be launching the first ever car to be fully manufactured in the Arab world. It goes without saying that the achievement of this plan will be nothing short of a huge step in the development of the Arab automobile industry.
Speaking on behalf of the company, Mr. Karim Saleh, Regional Manager for the Middle East and Africa, expressed their plans to roll out the production of 3000-5000 cars by February of 2018. Sandstorm LLC’s dream was largely due to the fact that the firm found readily available raw materials namely, batteries, horns, glass, and seats from the Egyptian markets. All of which are integral to the manufacturing of cars. Sandstorm not only laid down groundwork but also managed to establish a much-needed export line to ensure that exportation of manufactured cars to Africa was achievable.
A successful business requires a lot of partnerships and collaborations at various points of operations. In a bid to succeed, Sandstorm LLC successfully obtained a green light from four Egypt based firms to work with them. The scope of this partnerships stretches from assembly to marketing of the Sandstorm car not only in Egypt but also in the larger African continent. Sandstorm aims to use Egypt as an operational base to hit the African markets in 2020.
The answer to the question as to why Sandstorm LLC settled for Egypt is put forth by Mr. Saleh with clarity. He points at the local regulations and legislation, an overall enabling investment atmosphere and the ability of Egypt as a nation to compete favorably on the global scene as the key reasons why the firm settled for Egypt.
The regional manager further elaborated that the company aims at exporting its manufactured cars to 14 African nations and also ensure the availability of their spare parts in these nations. The economics surrounding the car prices are known to greatly determine the ability of potential customers to purchase cars. Thus, pricing of Sandstorm LLC’s products will be set at a rational level that will allow the Arab based car to compete favorably in its new markets. Saleh also insisted on the fact that Sandstorm had received a green light to put its car on the market from Intertek (a German-based firm).