Historical Photo
VW in Egypt
The first exports to a non-European country were made to Egypt - a contract was signed on the 14th April 1949 with the "Middle East Enterprise & Distribution Company, Abul Fath & Co." in Cairo. The first four Volkswagens were delivered there by the end of the year, rising to 179 the following year. Mahmoud Abul Fath had plans to open a factory in Alexandria, building CKD (Completely knocked down) Beetles. CKD meant that boxes of parts were supplied by VW instead of finished cars and the cars were then completed in the export country. After the military coup under Ali Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1952, Volkswagen's Egyptian business partner was convicted in a revolutionary tribunal and parts of his assets were confiscated. Volkswagen ended its business relationship with the Middle East Enterprise & Distribution Company on 5th May 1954 and started dealing with the "North East Africa Trading Company" from July 13, 1954.