Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 12:49 PM
By Zin El Abidine TAIMOURI.
Casablanca – The new vehicle sales sector in Morocco experienced a year 2022 under pressure, caught up in global geo-economic imbalances, pushing manufacturers to reorganize the automotive industry and redistribute the cards on international markets.
While 2022 was shaping up to be the year of recovery, following the exceptional performance of the sector in 2021 with 175,360 vehicles sold, the new car market has contracted over the past 12 months by 8% to settle 161,410 units sold nationwide.
This decline, which only varies by -2.7% compared to 2019, nevertheless testifies to the sector’s certain resilience, given the complexity of the international context marked by the disruption of supply chains, the shortage of -drivers and above all of global inflation which eats away at the purchasing power of citizens.
This is explained by Adil Bennani, the Association of Vehicle Importers in Morocco (AIVAM), in a press conference devoted to the presentation of the annual report on the sale of new vehicles in Morocco, which notes several events that have impacted negatively the market in 2022.
The disruption of global logistics, the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, inflation, the rise in the price of hydrocarbons and the resurgence of the health crisis in China are all exogenous factors that have contributed to the decline in sales, to which must be added a cooling of internal demand in the second half of the year.
All in all, vehicles are becoming more expensive, in a context of economic crisis causing the erosion of demand. To illustrate the situation, Mr. Bennani gives the example of the average price of the vehicle in Morocco which goes from 235,000 dirhams (DH) in 2019 to 295,000 DH in 2022.
Unlike the first half of 2022 when supply was not there, some manufacturers will have to reduce their margins from 2023 to stimulate demand but also their costs through the adoption of direct sales model through the transformation and digitalization of their distribution processes.
As for electric vehicles, Mr. Bennani pointed out the confirmation of the good momentum of sales in this segment which is growing by 17% but whose market share is still shy at 3.5% once morest 45%. % in Europe and over 50% in some developed countries.
However, the increase in the number of operators in this segment confirms the positive development of the market for clean vehicles, under the effect of an increasingly extensive and competitive offer, which today includes 18 brands for 71 models once morest 16 brands and 57 models in 2021.
In addition, Mr. Bennani reassured regarding the outlook for 2023, which should be relatively stable through efforts to revitalize the sector, which will be marked by a catch-up effect for commercial vehicles in the event of an improvement in the macroeconomic context, noting that the plan for electrification will depend on political measures intended to stimulate demand for this type of vehicle and on the development of the network of public terminals.
Asked if the Auto Expo will be organized this year, Mr. Bennani replied in the negative, explaining that the market is still disturbed, the event will not take place in 2023 but certainly the following year under another form, more adequate in relation to the changes observed in the world today.
Of the total of 161,410 units sold in 2022, the share of passenger vehicles (VP) amounts to 143,186 units, compared to 154,123 in 2021, for a share of light commercial vehicles (LCV) equivalent to 18,224 compared to 21,237 a year earlier.
The PC segment fell by 7% compared to 2021, dominated by the Dacia brand (27.2% of the market), Renault (15%) and Hyundai (9.2%). The Asians Hyundai (3rd position), Toyota (7th) and KIA (9th) each gained a place in the Top 10 of the PC category of the best-selling brands.
The LCV segment is experiencing a more pronounced general decline of 14% compared to 2021. Renault regains the top step of the podium with 26.6% of market share, followed by DFSK (15%) and Ford (10%).
