Algeria: Dealerships set to hike vehicle prices between 50 and 20 million centimes (DA)

The Algerian Company for Trade and Export activities “Safex” has announced on its website that the twentieth edition of the International Automobile showroom will be officially organized from 7 to 16 September 2017, after considering a request made to this effect by the accredited car dealerships’ association which asked for an adjournment of the event which usually takes place every year in the month of March.

Owing to the large scarcity of brand-new cars this year in line with a fixed import quota set by the relevant authorities, reliable sources said that the car dealers are poised to increase the prices of imported vehicles between a range of 50 and 20 million centimes (Dinars) in a bid to offset their loss in revenues stemming from VAT hikes as the national car market is currently beset by an acute crisis.

This year, car dealers will be allowed to import just 55,000 vehicles according to a quota system based on annual aggregate imports, which is synonymous with sales of less importance in volume but also in value.

The imposition of quotas has caused car dealers to fear that their earnings will be significantly curtailed as the newly-adopted policy of the authorities on the matter is crystal-clear.

This woeful situation will certainly be pushing the car dealers to go towards the vehicle-assembling and thereby reduce the exits of foreign hard currency intended for the imports. 

As a recall, in 2015, the bill of Algerian imports of vehicles was set at $ 3.14 billion in 2015, against $ 5.7 billion in 2014, a decline of nearly 45%. The number of imported vehicles also plummeted sharply to 265,523 units in 2015, compared with 417,913 units in 2014, a drop of 36.5%.