Geely plans to assemble cars in Egypt

Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group (0175.HKG) and Egypt’s GB Auto SAE announced plans to start assembling Geely cars in Egypt this year for sale across North Africa, The Wall Street Journal reported. The plant is expected to reach annual production of up to 30,000 cars in a few years and eventually to hit 50,000 units per year, a person close to the company said. The Chinese automaker and GB plan to sell two Geely models, the Panda and the Emgrand 7 sedan, in Egypt in the second quarter before branching out in North Africa, and GB is expected to start assembling Geely cars in Egypt from kits in the third quarter. Chinese auto exports are gaining momentum in emerging markets such as Egypt, Ukraine and Indonesia. “[The West was] way more difficult than we had ever imagined,” said Xing Wenlin, vice president at Great Wall Motor.