- Industry minister Elalamy says country capable of producing high-quality vehicles with a 60% content rate
- Automotive exports total nearly $9b in 2019 and nearly the same in 2020 despite Covid-19 pandemic
Automotive sector is Morocco’s leading export sector and the country is capable of manufacturing high-quality vehicles with a content rate of 60 percent, said Moulay Hafid Elalamy, minister for industry, trade and green and digital economy.
Morocco’s automotive exports in 2019 totalled Dh80 billion ($9b) and nearly the same amount in 2020 despite the pandemic, Elalamy said at the official launch of two new Renault brand–Nouvel Express and Nouvel Express Van–in Tangier on Thursday.
“It is also the first sector in terms of added value,” he said, hoping other sectors to also reach a high added value as envisaged by King Mohammed VI’s vision for industrialization in Morocco.
The minister said the Renault plant in Tangier was a 4.0 plant, with robots performing 40 percent of welding operations needed to achieve the required precision and superior quality.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister said, the plant managed to train Moroccan technicians who run the robots.
“Despite the in-depth transformation of this plant, Renault has now exceeded 9,100 employees,” he pointed out.
Last year, Elalamy told the media that Morocco’s automotive sector has provided job opportunities to 116,000 people.