King Mohammed VI received, on Thursday at Marrakech royal palace, Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy and CEO of Renault Group Carlos Ghosn. During this audience, the sovereign was informed of the extension project of the Moroccan Society of Automotive Construction (SOMACA) by doubling its production capacity to reach 160,000 vehicles per year by 2022. The twofold increase will enable the Renault group to increase its production capacity in Morocco to 500,000 vehicles per year, including 340,000 produced at the Tangier plant under the Industrial Acceleration Program. In 2007, SOMACA had exported its first Made in Morroco vehicle. Since then, it has become a real exportation platform with over 60% of its production destined for export. The SOMACA extension is part of the development of the automotive sector to achieve a production capacity of one million vehicles, all manufacturers combined, with a projected turnover of 100 billion dirhams yearly. The automotive sector in Morocco has a current local content rate of more than 50% and employs 85,000 people.
