Automotive industry: Turkish Martur Fompak injects over $35 million in new factory in Tangier
Turkish automotive supplier Martur Fompak International inaugurated an industrial plant on Tuesday, March 1 in Tangier Automotive City.
Built over 38,487 m², the plant required an investment of more than $35.6 million (340 million dirhams) and will allow the creation of 1,150 jobs.
Located in one of Morocco’s biggest industrial zones, the factory is a few kilometers away from the Mediterranean region’s biggest flagship port, Tanger Med.
Specialized in the production of car interior equipment (blankets, headrests, armrests, etc.) and car seats, the factory equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, intends to meet the growing needs of car manufacturers based in Morocco, mainly Renault, said Martur Fompak and the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade in a press release.
The Ministry has supported the construction of this plant as part of the Renault ecosystem.
The new plant, inaugurated only two years after the Turkish manufacturer first established its presence in the Tanger Automotive City with an initial investment of €17.5 million, will enable the group to strengthen its position on the local market, as the main supplier of seats and equipment for Renault Morocco, but also as exporter to European automotive markets from the end of this year.
“Despite an unfavorable global context, Morocco confirms, once again, the excellence and resilience of its automotive platform and is now establishing itself as an undisputed continental leader, said Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour during the inauguration ceremony.
Morocco has maintained its position as the leading automaker in Africa since 2018 and the national automotive sector remains at the top of the country’s exports, he said, adding that “this new investment attests to the great competitiveness of the Moroccan industrial base, a real export and growth relay for world leaders, and the complementarity between Moroccan and Turkish platforms for job creation and value. It perfectly meets our objectives of strengthening the in-depth local integration of the automotive sector and its technological upscaling”.
Founded in the early eighties of the past century, the Turkish manufacturer is a global supplier of car parts, with a presence in 40 countries and over 6,000 employees worldwide. The company has over 200 clients including world-class car manufacturers.
In addition to Martur Fompack, Morocco’s Automotive City is home to a number of major suppliers in car manufacturing, providing a business-friendly climate for carmakers to establish a presence in Morocco and Africa and export to European and American markets.
With 250 companies, the national automotive industry has an annual installed production capacity of 700,000 vehicles per year and a local integration rate of more than 60%. It has created 180,761 jobs from 2014 to September 2021.
Morocco’s car manufacturing ambitions will soon give way to the production of over 1 billion units by 2030, according to some estimates.
Besides, thanks to a new recycling cobalt plant, as well as chip-making factories, the North African country is also increasingly investing in becoming a future supplier within the electric vehicle manufacturing sector.
