The lack of communication on the list of ten car dealers who were to recover, as of yesterday, from the Ministry of Industry, the provisional approvals to import new vehicles, took precedence over the transparency so much promised by the public authorities in the management of the automotive file in Algeria.
And if the Minister of Industry, Ferhat Aït Ali Braham, has indicated that only the dealers concerned would communicate on this subject, once the provisional approvals have been granted, the fact remains that these same operators seem to opt, too, for silence, as if they risked revealing information classified as “secret”.
This lack of visibility and transparency in the management of this file is at odds with the reconfiguration, which is moreover inevitable, of the national automotive landscape and the overhaul by the State of legislative measures for the revival of this sector. neuralgic. Because never has the automotive issue known so much procrastination since the opening of the market to global brands.
So much so that the Ministry of Industry is limited to giving only the number of files received on the electronic platform and that of the ten operators who meet the conditions set out in the specifications relating to the exercise of the activity of concessionaires of new vehicles.
Worse still, the same ministry had indicated in a press release published last Thursday on its Facebook page, that the operation of studying the files of economic operators for the two activities of new vehicle dealers and vehicle construction will continue until the study of all the files submitted, knowing that the two committees have increased their work rate by holding marathon meetings.
Held on the same level as economic operators, Algerians are still awaiting the news from the dealers, and this, after the fuel exhaustion experienced by this sector in 2020 due, in particular, to the processing of the automobile file. at the level of justice, but also delays recorded in the promulgation of specifications because of the health emergency facing the country.
Yesterday, several media representatives stood up to the Ministry of Industry in an attempt to obtain snippets of information. In vain. The silence surrounding this issue has ended up wearing out professionals in the sector. Car dealership officials told us that “nothing has filtered out on the names of the operators selected, let alone the brands they are to represent in Algeria”.
Our interlocutors indicate that the dealers, whose lawsuits are in progress, are not likely to be retained, and this, and this, and this, whatever the device they use to convince the Ministry of Industry. One thing is certain, the Algerian market will undoubtedly be disputed between European and Asian brands, knowing that American brands are unlikely to be represented in Algeria, at least not before 2023 or 2024, add our sources.
