Morocco Wants to Become Hub for North African Auto Production

Morocco is aiming to become the automotive hub of North Africa by adding factories from RenaultRenaultFrance, 1898 > present189 models
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to build Renault and DaciaDaciaRomania, 1966 > present11 models
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models for the region. There are currently two Renault factories in the country - one in Casablanca and one in Tangiers, which build about 120,000 cars a year. 

Renault is just getting the Tangiers factory up and running and completed 60,000 cars in 2012. However, the factory was built for a 400,000 vehicle per year capacity, and Renault will be adding more models to the plant each year. 

"The capacity of the Tangier plant will double in 2013 and 95 percent of its production is to be exported," said Jacques Prost, head of Renault in Morocco.

Renault has good reasons to invest in Morocco. Salaries there are roughly a quarter of those in France, and there are free trade deals between Morocco and many EU and Middle East nations. The massive capacity of the factory also gives Renault options outside of Europe. When Dacia employees in Romania went on strike for a 40% pay increase, Renault threatened to shift production to the Moroccan factories. 

"All the process that you see comes from the Romanian [Dacia] plant. We have just copied it, and it works perfectly," said the Casablanca factory's manger. 

Morocco has its own reasons to support Renault. It is hoping the factory and its suppliers will improve the country's mostly agricultural economy and reduce its high unemployment rate. The Tangiers factory gets about 40% of its components from Moroccan suppliers to further boost local employment. Renault is just the first country that Morocco hopes to lure to the country. TataTataIndia, 1945 > present5 models
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is considering building a factory there.

Egypt and Algeria are following Morocco's lead and trying to lure European automakers. Renault has already confirmed that it will build a factory in Algeria that will be able to build a maximum of 75,000 cars a year. 

Source: Automotive News Europe