Algeria: automobile market affected by the termination of the credit

ALGIERS - The Algerian market of new cars registered a sales decline of up to 50% depending on the brands and models since the ban in late July of the automobile credit, said a representatives of foreign manufacturers.

•     The credit car involved, depending on the brand, between 12% and 50% of new vehicle sales in Algeria, which reached 352,000 units in 2008, according to local representatives of foreign manufacturers present at the 13th Salon International de l'Automobile of Algiers (September 30 to October 10).
  
      Algiers late July has decided to ban the automobile credit to reduce the cost of vehicle imports, which reached 3.5 billion dollars in 2008.
  
      "Sales have dropped 25% since the cessation of automobile credit. A quarter of our sales are made on credit," said Hichem Nacer Bey, head of network development and sales manager of Renault Algeria.
  
      "This decline affects particularly cars in entry-level, ie the cheapest. The other models are sold cash," he added.
  
      "There was a 30% increase in sales before the ban of automobile credit," he says.
  
      The same observation is made in Diamal representing Opel and Chevrolet brand very popular (30,000 cars sold in 2008), which also recorded a decline in sales since late July, including the cheapest as the small Spark.
  
      The Chinese brands that offer models from 400,000 dinars (4,000 euros) are not spared.
  
      "Over 40% of our sales were on credit which the prohibition penalizes all brands," says commercial director of Sipac, including representatives of the Chinese brand Geely Hamid Saidani.
  
      Algeria has imported 352,315 cars in 2008, against 217,742 units in 2007, according to official figures. These imports fell by 10.5% during the first half of 2009.
  
      
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.