Morocco to unveil 100% locally made petrol-powered car

Morocco will soon unveil the first 100% locally made petrol-powered car, building on an existing network of suppliers with an affordable cost, industry minister Ryad Mezzour said.

Quoted by l’Economist daily, Mezzour said the car, NEO, will be marketed at a competitive price of 170,000 dirhams and that it will find its first customers in the public administrations as well as the urban youth.

Morocco is home to a large network of automotive suppliers and has a production capacity of 700,000 at Renault and Peugeot factories in Tangier and Kenitra respectively.

But the goal is to increase that export capacity to 1 million cars by 2026 as producers of Morocco-made cars seek bigger market shares in Europe and elsewhere.

The country has so far 10,000 automotive industry engineers and plans to increase that number to 50,000.

It also prepares ahead for the transition in the sector by increasing low-carbon footprint and encouraging the ecosystem to increase production of electric vehicles from 40,000 currently to 100,000.