Marruecos apuesta decididamente por una industria de automoción competitiva al más alto nivel

Morocco is aiming high in terms of automobile production. The Alawi kingdom aims to become the most competitive automotive industrial platform in the world and is well on its way to becoming so. This is the message delivered by Ryad Mezzour, Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade, during the 7th edition of the Tangier Automotive Meetings, jointly organised by the Moroccan Association of Automotive Industry and Trade (AMICA) and the Department of Industry and Trade from 26 to 28 October. 

This progress in the competitiveness of the Moroccan automotive industry has to do in part with the supply of green energy, which will be 30% cheaper than the current energy source, as pointed out at the event. Ryad Mezzour himself also indicated that the price of energy in Morocco has remained stable in contrast to other countries thanks to the executive's "superhuman efforts" to maintain market stability, as reported by the media Medias 24.

Mezzour also referred to indications that "made it possible to expect to reach a production capacity of 1 million vehicles built per year in the near future". This is a figure to be taken into account because the Alawi kingdom currently manufactures some 700,000 units thanks to the industrial presence of factories such as Renault and Stellantis, as well as other firms such as Leoni, Denso, Valeo, Magna, Lear and Faurecia, along with more than 250 suppliers. 

Moreover, the export sector's turnover will reach 100 billion dirhams in 2022 and Ryad Mezzour announced the national aspiration to reach 200 billion dirhams, something that would be within the reach of the North African country. 

At the Tangiers meeting it was also noted that there may be a shift towards a greater consumption of more economical cars as opposed to more luxurious ones, due to the global crisis situation, and that this would benefit Morocco, which is one of the main producers of this type of car for Europe. 

The Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade also alluded to the need to boost the electric sector within the car fleet because the trend in Europe is towards electrification, which is a major challenge for the national production sector. Ryad Mezzour pointed out that it is very important to further develop the electric battery sector in order to favour the automotive sector.

"We have no choice but to become producers of electric batteries and we hope to be able to announce this in the very near future," Mezzour said at a time when the electric battery represents up to 30% of the cost of an electric car. The North African country has great potential in this field because it possesses several of the basic elements for the production of electric batteries, such as cobalt sulphate, manganese phosphates and nickel. "Today Morocco manufactures around 40,000 electric cars a year. This figure should triple or even quadruple," the Moroccan minister said, as reported by Medias 24.

In an official statement, the Minister Delegate for Investment, Mohcine Jazouli, said that Morocco is developing the manufacture of batteries for the electric car sector thanks to its reserves of cobalt, phosphates, manganese and nickel. Jazouli was speaking at the Automobilwoche Kongress trade fair in Berlin. "Since 2020, the production of electric vehicles is already underway in Morocco, as evidenced by the production of the Citroën Ami and Opel E-Rock models in the country's plants. Models that are designed by Moroccan engineers," the minister pointed out in the official note. 

Today Minister M. Mohcine Jazouli gave a speech at @Automobilwoche Congress and shared developments on how the Kingdom of Morocco is now able to provide green energy at some of the most competitive costs in the world. #sustainable #automotive #investments pic.twitter.com/my3mTVsfzo

— Morocco Now (@MoroccoNow_Ofcl) October 27, 2022

In addition, the minister underlined that his country managed in two decades to develop "a rich and diversified automotive ecosystem" and pointed out that Morocco has become the leading automotive producer in Africa with an installed capacity of more than 700,000 vehicles per year, as reported by the EFE news agency.