Morocco establishes itself as the largest automobile production hub in Africa
Hibapress
Morocco continues to consolidate its position as the largest automobile production center in Africa, while preparing for the era of electric vehicles, underlines the British daily, The Financial Times (FT), on Thursday.
Beyond the number of vehicles manufactured in Morocco, which continues to grow and most of which are sold in Europe, it is the success of the Kingdom in imposing upstream integration of its automotive supply chain which is important, notes The Financial Times, in a special dedicated to investment in Morocco.
The country today has more than 250 automotive equipment manufacturers, many of which are subsidiaries of foreign companies, which employ some 220,000 people, the newspaper said.
Last year, the Renault group indicated that it sources more than 60% of the parts for its vehicles from Morocco, the majority of which is exported, while committing to increase this rate to 65%, details the same source.
And to continue that in 2010, Morocco produced less than 60,000 cars. Last year, despite supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic, production reached a record 465,000, neck and neck with Poland, according to data firm CEIC. Ultimately, the government aims to produce up to 1 million cars per year.
“Today, it is much easier to produce a car in Morocco than ten years ago,” says Faouzi Annajah, co-founder of the hydrogen car manufacturer NamX, to the British media, who adds that not only does Morocco have ‘a competitive group of automotive suppliers and equipment manufacturers, but it also produces a constant flow of Moroccan engineers, 3,500 of whom work in the city of Casablanca alone, many of them women.
“Arguably the industry’s biggest breakthrough took place in 2012. It was on this date that Renault began producing cars in a factory in Tangier located near the Tanger Med industrial complex and a few kilometers from the Spain, with a capacity of 400,000 vehicles. Four years ago, in 2019, Peugeot, now part of Stellantis, followed Renault’s example. It opened a factory costing nearly $600 million in Kenitra, with a capacity of 200,000 vehicles. Last November, Stellantis, which manufactures the Peugeot 208 in this factory, declared that it would invest an additional 300 million euros to double production and increase it to 400,000 vehicles,” details the publication.
Besides the continued growth of local supply chains, the next challenge for the industry will be to adapt sufficiently and quickly to changing regulatory conditions, including the EU ban on the sale of most internal combustion engine vehicles from 2035, notes the daily.
Renault has already noted that it will start producing two-seater electric vehicles in Morocco this year. The Dacia brand, acquired by Renault in 1999, will also produce its new generation of Sandero, a 100% battery-electric vehicle, in the country, reports the FT.
Stellantis’ new range will offer small automobiles based on its “Smart Cars” platform aimed primarily at emerging markets, including electric vehicles and will also strengthen the production and assembly of electric quadricycles for the Citroën and Opel brands, it continues. .
And Morocco is now turning to electric battery factories, concludes the media.
