Lorocco has achieved a real feat in the automotive sector. The activity has become a locomotive of the national economy. Its performance is visible at several levels, starting with exports, which should increase by 33.7% in 2022 to 52.6 billion dirhams, according to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM). For Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade, “Morocco now has the third best competitiveness in the world following China and India. It is the leading exporter of cars to the European Union ahead of China, Korea, Japan and Turkey.
The best-selling car in Europe is made in Morocco”. Despite this flight, Morocco wants to go even further by investing in new sectors to improve its integration rate. Booming in the world, the electric car is the most invested segment by manufacturers, most of which have launched mega development programs costing billions of dollars. “With the industrialization of new vehicle models in Morocco, including electrified vehicles, the Moroccan automotive sector is surely entering a new era in its history, marked by the rise of skills, technology and decarbonization”, underlined Mezzour. The integration rate of the automotive industry in Morocco reached 63% in 2021, with a goal of reaching 80% in the long term, “which will transform the Kingdom into the most competitive platform in the world”, says the minister. To position itself in this new niche, Morocco has already started to develop a dedicated ecosystem. Recently, an agreement was signed between Managem and the Renault group.
The sealed partnership will allow the Moroccan group to direct 70% of its current cobalt production to the French manufacturer to ensure the development of electric batteries. Through this supply, Renault will be able to produce 300,000 electric vehicles. “The government will support the automotive mining industry. In addition to cobalt, it is planned to expand the supply to other metals such as copper for example. Morocco has taken a new step to improve its integration rate and it will be a sourcing platform for electric car manufacturers., explains Mezzour. In addition to the electric car, the Kingdom can develop other sectors to improve its integration rate and which do not require a high level of technology, but sometimes heavy investments.
In terms of the exterior needs of cars, there are, for example, paint, tires, plastic products, bare or galvanized sheet metal or bumpers. At the interior level, the seat belts, the leather, the textile, the foaming, the chrome. For the brakes, we note the stretches or the discs. At the level of the engine components, there are for example the oil pans, the valves or the piston rings. But semiconductors remain one of the most interesting sectors for the national automotive industry. Its development should give a strong impetus to the sector. Admittedly, the activity is subject to several financial, technological, logistical and sectoral strategy constraints.
But Morocco has many assets to position itself there, in particular competitive factor costs. However, it is clear that the firms specializing in this field are mainly concentrated in the countries of Southeast Asia. They control the entire production chain. Chinese groups have companies dedicated to the supply of raw materials, transport or processing. This allows them to achieve significant economies of scale and meet the needs of their customers under optimal conditions. To reach this level, Morocco must rely on world giants in this field. The government has a lot of work to do to convince multinationals to come and settle in the Kingdom.