Automotive industry: Morocco, 1st African producer in 2024
For the first time in the industrial history of the African continent, Morocco is the number one in terms of automotive production! With its Renault-Dacia plants in Casablanca and Tangiers, and Stellantis in Kénitra (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Opel…), the Moroccan platform is effectively the largest car production base in 2024, far ahead of South Africa. For several decades, South Africa has been the continent’s undisputed number one vehicle manufacturer. According to analysts at Fitch Solutions: “ We forecast that Morocco’s car production (pas-senger cars and light commercial vehicles) will reach just under 614,000 units in 2024, while South Africa’s vehicle production (passenger cars and commer-cial vehicles) will fall to 591,000 units”. Furthermore, this trend will be fueled by poor logistics performance and increased vehicle imports into South Africa in 2024. At the same time, continued investment in the Moroccan automotive industry will support the growth of local production, p in particular electric ve-hicle (EV) projects, says BMI, a subsidiary of Fitch Solutions.
What’s more, “ the long-term outlook will be more favorable for Morocco with the rapid devel-opment of the electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid industry”, confirms the same analysis. In 2023, Renault produced some 382,661 vehicles at its two sites in Casablanca and Tangiers. The aim is to increase this to 500,000 units by 2025. Stellantis Maroc produces 200,000 cars a year. The manufacturer’s goal is to increase production to 450,000 vehicles a year. In all, the Moroccan platform could produce more than 582,000 cars by 2023. The total installed capacity is 1 million vehicles.
“ We currently expect vehicle production in Morocco to grow by an average of 6.8% year-on-year over the forecast period to 2033. Eventually, production should reach an annual volume of 1.09 million units ”, analysts at Fitch Solu-tions predict. In the future, say the experts, there is every reason to believe that Morocco will remain the preferred investment destination for the automotive industry, due to its proximity to the EU, the existing trade agreements (FTAs), the logistics infrastructure in place, the incentives, and the potential for the electrification of processes…
Amin RBOUB
