CAIRO — The Egyptian dream of producing the first local electric car did not go smoothly. It actually hit a bump, as Egypt announced the suspension of negotiations with its Chinese partner, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, to produce the first Egyptian electric car.

The Egyptian Ministry of Public Works announced in a statement on Nov. 11, 2021, that "negotiations with Dongfeng to produce the E70 electric car, in cooperation with Al Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company, affiliated with the Ministry, have stopped.”

The ministry said the reason behind the halted negotiations was “the inability to reach an agreement with Dongfeng to sufficiently reduce prices of the imported parts that are needed to manufacture the car and enable Al Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company to manufacture cars and offer a competitive and attractive price for consumers.”

The ministry confirmed that "new channels of communication have been opened with one of the specialized global consulting offices to identify an alternative partner, and positive results are expected to be reached before the end of November.”