Egypt’s Mercedes Assembler Adds MG Output

VIENNA – Egyptian German Automotive, the assembly operation for Mercedes-Benz vehicles owned 26% by Daimler, adds output of MG 750 sedans from complete-knocked-down kits sourced from China.

The EGA plant, located in 6^th of October City, will assemble the vehicles for Egypt’s MG distributor, Egyptian British Automotive.

In Egypt it is not unusual for vehicles from a variety of brands to be built by the same assembler. However, EGA, which launched car assembly in 1997, until now built only Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Currently, EGA produces Mercedes C-Class, E-Class and GLK models from CKD kits.

The MG now being assembled in Egypt is manufactured in China as the Roewe 750, or Shangqi Rongwei 750 in Chinese. It is badged as the MG 750 for export markets.

The Roewe/MG 750 is the oldest model in the lineup for either of the two brands manufactured in China. It is based on the Rover 75, which was produced in the U.K. prior to MG Rover’s bankruptcy in 2005.

Last year, only 1,557 Roewe 750s and 321 MG 750s were produced in China by SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle, a sister company to local General Motors and Volkswagen partner SAIC.

Egypt is the third country after China and the U.K. to produce MG cars under the brand’s Chinese ownership.

In addition to the locally made MG 750, EBA sells other MG models that are imported fully built.

The company also has the license to market MGs in Saudi Arabia and Morocco and is seeking rights for other countries, including Libya and Jordan. It plans to launch exports of the Egyptian-made MG 750 in first-quarter 2014.

EBA also is considering adding local assembly of a second MG model, with a decision expected later this year.

MG is the seventh Chinese car brand with assembly in Egypt. BYD, Geely, Great Wall and JAC cars and SUVs already are being built by local companies. In addition, Chinese Chery cars are assembled by Aboul Fotouh Automotive under the Speranza brand and the SGMW Wuling Rongguang, a minivan manufactured by the SAIC-GM-Wuling JV in China, is produced as the Chevrolet Move by General Motors Egypt.

Some Chinese-made pickup trucks and minibuses also are assembled in the country.